Turn of Events
by Morgania
Summary: So, what if Bella and Edward didn't get their happily-Ever-After? What exactly happens if someone is exposed to venom more than a time or two? Could the unexpected be the end for them? And who might be waiting in the wings? Starts out as B/E...
1. Chapter 1

_**AN: I haven't dabbled in fic in quite a few years. This was something that has been stirring in my head for a while, and I thought I would give it a shot. I'm not quite sure if I plan to continue it or not, I suppose that depends on the feedback I get. Anyway, here it is. As always, credit belongs where credit is due. These characters are not mine. Stephanie Meyer owns them all. I'm just toying with them.**_

_**_______________________________________________________________**_

I've spent a lot of time, lately, looking back over the last few years of my life.

If someone had told me, five years ago, that werewolves and vampires were real and that I would end up married to one of the latter, I would have ran from that crazy person, while praying that I wouldn't trip and fall down in the process.

The strangest thing is that I'm not really scared. I know it's going to hurt. It's going to hurt a lot. Unfortunately, par for the course, being the danger magnet that I am, I've experienced that pain on more than one occasion and have the scars to prove it. But, once it's over, I may never have to experience real pain ever again. That's a pretty decent trade, if you ask me!

I've found numerous ways to ask my new family about their previous "lives." Most all of the stories were interesting. But, there was something lacking. The general consensus is that after I am changed, I will forget a lot. Little things, like what my favorite foods were or what it feels like to wake up from a wonderful dream… Most of them say that I may not even have the same _feelings_ for my human family and friends as I once had. Or, as Rosalie so nicely puts it, I may not feel much for _humans_ at all.

That last one, I'm not so sure about. How can I just stop caring about people? People like Renee and Charlie? People like Jake?

Maybe, they all went through these changes because of the traumas they endured before their transformations. I mean, Carlisle never stopped caring about people. So it can't be a definite for everyone, right? But, then again… What if Carlisle is one of those rare exceptions to the rule? What if they are right?

It doesn't change anything. I made my decision and I am ready. Completely, one hundred percent ready for this. But, as much as I might look forward to spending eternity with the man of my dreams, the whole experience which brought has me to this point is something that I hope to never forget.

* * *

"Her heartbeat has accelerated dramatically. She's heading for cardiac arrest."

Carlisle stepped into the room and placed a sympathetic hand upon his son's shoulder. "It won't be much longer, now." He finished, softly.

Edward had not left Bella's side once, from the moment her transformation had begun. Not even to speak to the rest of the family. It was clear from the beginning that he had mixed emotions about turning her. His thumb rubbed continuous circles over the back of her hand, which he was holding, as he watched the movement of her eyes and they flitted, to and fro, beneath their near translucent lids.

His own eyes traveled downward to the hand that he was holding as his thumb passed over the familiar half moon scar that felt so much more like his own cool skin. It was one of three that she now wore. They owed many thanks to a lone rogue, followed by Victoria some months later, for the addition of the latest two. His own injection of venom was not included in these numbers.

They had discussed in-depth how they were to go through with this and had decided upon using an injection of his venom instead. He couldn't bear the thought of adding, yet, another scar to her collection, much less, the idea of causing her unnecessary pain. It was Bella's choice, however, that the site of injection would be over her heart.

_She's still so warm,_ Edward thought to himself, thinking of how soon she would never feel this way again.

His eyes traveled back up to rest upon her troubled face. Beads of sweat glistened over her knitted brows. The flush upon her cheeks remaining, even as her breathing became more labored.

How they had been able to spare her life all three times was far too remarkable to be mere luck. To be able to draw the venom from a vampires bite _once_ was a miracle in itself. It was just one more thing that told Edward that this girl, his beautiful, precious girl, was meant to live. And, yet, it was he that would finally extinguish her light.

Despite it all, his protestations, his reasoning and against even his own conscience, Edward was far too selfish to let her go. And, as always, he could refuse her nothing.

Edward's ears quickened to the sound of her erratic heart-beat.

_Thu-thump… Thu-thump… Thu-thump-thump-thump-thump…_

"It's almost over, Edward." Carlisle's voice came from behind him, surprising Edward out of his self loathing. He had nearly forgotten Carlisle was there.

Still clasping Bella's hand, Edward reached over with the other and placed it over her heart, etching this feeling to memory, already grieving its loss. A small shiver went through her body before, she finally, lay still.

The rest of the family, who had been respectfully waiting outside, began to slowly fill the little room.

Their thoughts were a colorful mix that Edward, as always, was privy to. He kept his eyes locked on Bella's face, trying to tune them out in an effort to focus on her and her alone. But, try as he may, certain things always manage to filter through.

Carlisle was marveling at Bella's retention of color… Esme was eagerly awaiting the arrival of her newest "daughter"… Emmett was wondering how soon would be considered _too_ soon for him to challenge his new sister to an arm wrestling match… Jasper was thinking about Alice and seemed to be nervous… Rosalie was just pissed. _Nothing new there_, Edward thought, while Alice...

_Edward… _Alice was thinking _at _him.

Instead of turning to her, Edward shook his head slightly. Whatever it was she needed to tell him, could wait. He leaned forward as Bella began to stir.

_Edward! Listen to me!_ Alice continued, _I need to tell you something. It's important that you know…_

Edward continued to ignore her. He reached up to stroke the side of Bella's face. _She's certainly cooler to the touch than before_, he noted, _But, should she still feel this warm?_ Bella's lids began to flutter slightly and a small sigh escaped her lips. The sound of her voice was like music to his ears.

_Edward!_ Alice's voice hissed urgently into his mind. _Edward, I've seen something. Something's wrong!_

As Bella's eyes slowly opened and looked around her, All but Alice gasped in surprise.

"Edward?" Bella murmured, softly, her eyes landing on his. Bella's soft, chocolate-brown, eyes that held only a hint of gold behind them.

"Welcome back, my love," He responded, smiling to hide his surprise. A smile that faltered, changed into an expression of shock and confusion as a very unexpected sound responded in turn…

_Thump_

_ To Be, or Not to Be… Continued?_


	2. Chapter 2

"Fascinating." Carlisle's voice was the first thing I heard. "Absolutely fascinating."

_Fascinating? What's fascinating?_

Looking around the room, The first thing that I immediately noticed was that everything was so incredibly bright, almost painfully so! After shielding my eyes with my hand to alleviate some of the overhead glare, the second thing I noticed was that the entire family was just staring at me. Their expressions were a mix of shock and something akin to horror, but no one said a word.

This was not the reception that I had expected to wake up to... Well, if you could call finally escaping most excruciating, mind numbing pain possible, _waking_.

_Did I look like a monster?_

Worried, I turned to face my husband, who was sitting by my bedside.

"Edward?" I questioned, hating how weak and fearful my voice sounded, even to my own ears. It sure didn't sound like the voice of a monster. But, it didn't sound beautiful and bell-like, as Alice and Rosalie's did, either.

"Welcome back, my love," Edward replied, giving my hand a tender squeeze. His other hand came up and stroked the side of my face as his lips turned up into that sweet sideways smile that I adore and I couldn't help but begin to smile in response.

I figured that I was probably just over-analyzing things. I do have a tendency to do that, after all.

I reached up to take his other hand in mine, lacing my fingers with his, and resting both of our hands on my chest and that's when I really got worried. He gasped, his smile instantly fading away. His gaze left mine and dropped, instead, to our interlaced fingers, over my heart.

_Oh, God... Something must be wrong with me… What is wrong with me? _

Frantically, I looked down at myself, and saw nothing unusual. I released Edward's hand and felt my face, my neck, my other arm and then looked back to Edward, trying to catch his gaze with mine. He was shaking his head, slowly, his eyes still glued to the same spot they had been.

"Edward, what is it?" I asked, "What's wrong? Tell me, what's the matter?"

I fought to keep my voice under control. Now, I was really getting scared.

"Bella," he began, blinking a few times before, finally, looking back to my face, "Bella, you're heart..."

"My heart? What about my heart?"

Edward looked behind him to Alice, who responded with an awkward wave and a shrug that seemed intended for us both, before turning back to me again.

"It's beating," he replied. "You're heart is beating, Bella. It's"... his voice dropped to a whisper. "I don't understand," he finished, lamely, and the room was dead silent, once more.

_My heart is beating? No. That is, in no way, possible!_

I brought my hand back to my chest to feel for myself and yep. There it was. Pumping away, under there, as if nothing had ever happened.

Sitting upright, I finally looked over and beyond my husband, to Carlisle, who was in the far corner of the room.

"Carlisle? How is this possible? Does this mean?... Am I still human?"

He walked briskly to my bedside and took my face in his hands, looking deeply into my eyes. "Hmm," was his only initial response. He then gestured to my hand and asked, "May I?" to which I responded by settling my palm into his.

He lifted my arm, slightly, holding his fingers to the pulse-point at my wrist and staring at the skin over my forearm, intently, before repeating, "Absolutely fascinating," once more.

"Would you _stop_ saying that!" I snapped at him, and was instantly, ashamed of myself. But, I was beginning to feel like a freak show, and very much like I was going to cry.

_Can vampires cry? I don't think I ever asked that question..._

At last, Carlisle released my hand and stepped back. He crossed one arm over his chest, his other hand stroking his chin and said, "No."

"No?" I asked. "No, what?"

_No, he won't stop saying that?_

"No, I don't think you are human. At least, not in the general sense," he clarified.

_Okay. That was something._

"So... I'm okay then, right? Maybe this just takes a little longer, since Edward didn't actually bi-"

Shaking his head, Carlisle interrupted me, gently but firmly, leaving no room for questioning as to his opinion.

"But, I don't believe that you are a vampire, either."

Frustrated, I felt my hands ball into fists, my jaw clenched and I closed my eyes, trying to dam up the tears that were now welling within them.

_Damn it! Same old Bella_, I thought, _clumsy and accident prone, right up to the very end._

_I can't even die right!_

_

* * *

_

A/N: Sorry this one is so short. I needed to set the scene for this. I've had this story jumping around in my head for a long time, but never wrote out any rough draft, so I'm sort of writing blind, and figuring out how to pull this all together as I go. I may be just as surprised at the directions this takes as the rest of you. But, there are some things that I can tell you right now, since I didn't have room in the story description.

Timeline is early BD. There is no Nessie in this story. I always found that a little too Fairy tale-ish for my taste. Besides, she wouldn't fit in well with my plot-line. :-)

As for _what_, exactly, Bella _is_? Well, you'll just have to wait to find out. That part is coming soon.  
Thanks.

- Morgania


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Okay, this one is going to be kind of long, but things should pick up quite a bit from here. Please leave a review and tell me what you think. I'd really like to know. It helps with the creative juices, after all._

_Morgania_

Edward

Bella looked so small, sitting there on the bed. She covered her eyes with her hands, and the only response she gave, when I tried to reach out to her, was a muffled sob.

Tears always came so easily for my Bella. Far too easily is what she would say. It was something that she hated about herself. She said that it made her feel weak and out of control. Little did she know that, although I would do anything in my power to make her smile, her sensitivity was another one of those things that had made me fall in love with her.

It wasn't but a moment before Esme crossed the room to sit by Bella's side and wrap her arms around her.

"Bella, honey, it's alright. I'm sure there is a perfectly logical explanation for all of this. There's no need for you to cry." Esme spoke in hushed soothing tones, as she stroked Bella's hair. Alice soon joined her, on Bella's other side and I was effectively shut out, for the moment.

"Yes," Rosalie chimed in sarcastically, "I agree. You shouldn't cry, Bella. You should wait until the Volturi come to check on us and finds you, still alive. Then, you can cry all you want to."

"Rosalie!" Esme turned her head toward her and snapped, harshly, "that is totally inappropriate!"

Rosalie rolled her eyes in response and gestured angrily towards Bella. "Why?" she asked, "Because it's Bella? Poor, sweet, precious, little Bella? We all know what's going to happen when they come back! And they _will_ come back…"

"You'll do best to hold your tongue," I told her, I had a pretty good idea of where she was going with this, and could feel my anger starting to rise. Beside me, Bella buried her head further into Esme's embrace and continued to sob.

"No, Edward. I'll do no such thing. _You _did this, Edward. You. I told you to stay away from her. I begged you to leave her be. You knew the risks and you chose to act on your own, anyway. Now, you've endangered all of us, as a result of it!"

"Rose, calm down, babe." Emmett wrapped one arm around her shoulders as he spoke. "We don't know that, yet. We don't even know what Bella _is_, yet. I mean, for all we know, she could just be different… Like--''

By now, Bella had slowly begun to untangle herself from Esme's grasp and was shakily swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

"Is it warm in here?" She asked, to no one in particular, her voice sounding small and far away.

"Oh, you mean like a talent?" Rosalie turned her face up to Emmetts, a secret smile playing across her porcelain features. "Some sort of rarity? Oh, that would be much better. That would surely attract Aro's attention. Maybe then, she'd just be a collectible!"

"I'm not feeling so well, at all," Bella continued. She stood slowly, taking my hand and using me for support. I noted that her temperature had dropped considerably from just a few short moments ago. She, actually, felt quite cold.

"That's quite enough." Carlisle strode smoothly across the room to stand before her, as he spoke. "Bella is part of this family now, Rosalie, and this kind of talk isn't going to help anything. I think it's time we stepped outside and left Edward and Bella to themselves for a bit. I'm going to need to do some research, as well. Come, now, Rosalie. Let's go." He opened the door and stepped back to allow Emmett and Rosalie to go, first.

"No, Carlisle, it's alright." Bella spoke, softly, "She's right to worry. No matter how much I try, I always seem to put the people that I love in danger... I'm… I'm going to take a shower.." She smiled weakly at me. "I'm sure I could use one, by now…"

Releasing my hand, she began to walk, slowly, to the opened door. She paused there, long enough to mumble a quick, "I'm sorry," before she shuffled on out, closing the door behind her.

Standing now, I turned back to Rosalie. "Let me make one thing clear. I don't care how much you may dislike my choices, or how you feel about Bella. But, she is my wife. I love her and I will not tolerate anyone hurting her. Even you."

Raising an eyebrow and nodding, Rosalie answered, "It's obvious that you don't care, Edward. But, I'm only stating facts. Sometimes, the truth is hard to hear. But at least I've never laid so much as a finger on Bella. If anyone has hurt her, it's you."

I wanted to kill her for her cruelty. Of all the times she could pick to unleash that wicked tongue of hers, she would have to choose today. But, I couldn't see the point in wasting more words on the matter. Besides, as much as I would never admit it to her, she had a point. Oh, how I hate it when she is right!

* * *

Bella

I climbed the stairs as quickly as my near numb limbs could manage. It felt like an oven in here, and yet I was stiff and full of tingles, like when an arm or a leg goes to sleep only I felt like this all over!

Why is it that if anything can go wrong it will, where I am concerned?

I wanted to become a vampire so that I could finally be with Edward the way we were meant to be, without boundaries and restrictions, forever. With the way I was feeling right now, I was wondering if he didn't just earn himself some sort of a supernatural cripple!

After what seemed like an eternity, I finally reached the top of the stairs and made it to the bathroom in the hallway.

Closing and locking the door, I peeled off my clothes, tucked my sweat flattened hair behind my ears and faced the vanity to take my first look at myself in the wide mirror.

I wasn't much paler. But, then, I was pretty pale to begin with. My eyes were a little different, however. The color hadn't changed much, but there were little flecks of gold speckled, throughout them. It was, actually, kind of pretty and not over-dramatic. This was much better than the horrific red that I had been dreading. And, if I looked closely at my skin, I could see just the faintest shimmer, under the bright fluorescent lighting. It was nothing that would prevent me from going out into the sun. This was actually a plus because I was a little sad about having to give that up. At the very worst, it would appear as though I was using some kind of lotion with a faint hint of sparkle in it.

Unfortunately, however, that was where the positives ended.

Although I liked my new eyes, the grey circles underneath them were less than flattering. And, my skin tone looked washed out. Not the satiny smooth porcelain I had been expecting, but more like a white-washed cement. My nails had taken on a bluish tint, and…

_Gaah! Since when did vampires need heat and air conditioning? It was hot as an oven in this place!_

Turning away from the mirror, I decided that it was definitely time to take that shower. A nice cold one! Maybe, afterward, I would feel better. Hopefully, that had a lot to do with how I looked as well. Not likely, but one can always hope.

* * *

Alice was the last in line, following the rest of the family out of the little room and into the living area. She was wringing her hands and continued to pace around, even after the rest of the family had settled into their seats.

"I agree with Carlisle," she finally stated. "There's no point in arguing about this at all. But, as much as I hate to say this, Rosalie is right about one thing. The Volturi are coming."

From his seat on the windowsill, Edward responded, despondently. "This, we already know, Alice. But, regardless of what is going on with Bella, she is no longer human. I can only hope that will be enough to satisfy them. If not… I will take her away, if I must."

"Let's look at the situation rationally," Carlisle interjected. If we take a scientific point of view, there could very well be a basic explanation for what has occurred. Although I never would have deemed it applicable to supernatural circumstances, clinically speaking, Bella's reaction could possibly be nothing more than a case of semi-immunity caused by inoculation."

Emmett made a face. "By What? Could you repeat that in English, please? 'Cause, that just flew right over my head."

"Bella has been injected with venom on three separate occasions, prior to this. Each time, we have managed to remove the venom from her bloodstream, but she was still exposed to it, nonetheless. I'm suggesting that, perhaps, she has developed just enough anti-bodies against our venom so as she cannot be killed by it. And, therefore, she cannot truly be turned, either.

"You think that Bella is immune to vampirism?" Esme wondered, aloud. "But, she is different… Not like us, but still different…"

"Yes," Carlisle agreed. "There are changes to be noted, that is for certain. I want to research this and see if there are any other cases to be found, like hers. But, for now, that is the best conclusion I can think of."

"Alice, you knew that something was wrong," Edward began, "you told me that you saw something. I've tried to see it, but I can't wrap my head around it. What exactly have you seen?"

"Well, as I had started to tell you, before, I _do_ see the Volturi. But, not just the head council. I see all of them." She paused to let the implications of this sink in, before she continued on. "The wives, even. I can't see exactly when, yet. It looks like winter, but there's no saying if it's this winter or the next. It's not clear enough, at this point, for me to say. I see something else though… Or, rather I see _someone._ But, I don't know who that person is. I can't even describe him. He appears like a shadow and I am only guessing that he is, in fact, a _he_ based on the size. But, whoever he is, he's important."

Edward shook his head, impatiently and asked, "But, what about Bella? What did you see, about Bella?"

Ignoring her brother, for the moment, Alice locked eyes with Carlisle from across the room. "I think you are going to be the one to find him."

Before she could continue with the story of her vision, a loud, repetitive banging sounded from upstairs.

Edward was instantly on his feet and streaking up the staircase toward the sound. There was only one person up those stairs, who could be making that noise.

"Bella!"

From inside the bathroom, he could hear unintelligible mumblings, along with the banging noises. He smashed through the locked bathroom door as if it were cardboard, and stepped inside. Upon opening the shower doors, what he saw dropped him to his knees.

Bella was red from head to toe and covered in blotches.

She was twitching and writhing in the bottom of the tub, her elbows, knees and head were slamming over and over into the back and sides of it. The water that was beating down upon her was cool to the touch but steam hissed and rose into the air as it landed upon her body.

"Oh my God! Bella, love, what is happening to you?!" He realized, as he reached down to lift her out, that her body, which had felt so cold only 15 minutes ago, was now as hot as fire.

Frantically, he clutched her still quivering frame to himself, rocking back on his heels, desperately willing her to just stop, to be alright. He would never, ever forgive himself if she were to die.

She continued to flail, in his embrace. Her eyes rolled. Strange cryptic words were coming from her lips.

"_Cold… Dark… Shadows… The shadows! Run… Need to run! No! Ja… E… Edward! Don't… So dark…"_

"Bella, darling, I'm here… I'm right here!" Edward clutched her, tighter, feeling absolutely helpless, not knowing what else to do.

Strong hands were pulling at his shoulders, he felt Bella being tugged from his grasp.

"No!"

"Edward! Edward, stop it! You're hurting her. Let her go!"

An instant later, he was flung against the vanity cabinet. Esme was crouched over Bella, who was now lying on the floor, beside the tub. Alice was pulling him up by the front of his shirt and pushing him out the door.

"Alice, No! I need to help her!"

Edward tried, unsuccessfully to push past his sister to get to his wife as other hands, Jasper's, wrapped around him, from behind, preventing him from doing so.

"Edward, listen to me!" Alice spoke to him, firmly, "You can't do this! You are too emotional. Esme and I will take care of her. We need ice. Lots of it, and fast! If you love her, you'll stop this, and do it now. Now, go!"

"Come on Edward, we need to hurry," Jasper told him, before pulling him the rest of the way out.

Moments later, Bella was back in the tub, encased in gallons of ice, which was melting as fast as they could put it over her.

Esme and Alice quickly found themselves kneeling in water, as it spilled over the edge of the tub and run in lukewarm streams across the bathroom floor.

Over the next half hour, more and more ice had to be brought back up the stairs to replace what had been lost. Alice found herself thankful that she always kept so much on hand. You never knew when the appropriate moment for a party would arise. Or in this case, a fever like no one on earth had ever seen before.

Eventually, Bella's seizing had stopped, her temperature, although still high, had dropped considerably, the blotches were fading away and the nonsensical rambling had quieted as well. She, now, seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep.

"I'm going to go and gather some towels," Esme said, as she stood and sloshed her way to the door.

Alice nodded her agreement. "Okay."

_Oh Bella,_ she thought, tucking a stray clump of wet hair behind Bella's ear, _what are we going to do with you?_ She then resigned herself to watching the few small remaining pieces of ice as they floated around in the water. As she did so, she couldn't help but notice that, although most all of the blotches of color had faded away, there was one mark that had remained, close to the inside of her right hip.

It looked much less like a blotch than a birthmark of sorts. It was much darker than the others had been and had a very distinctive shape to it, like a crescent moon, with another coming out from the center of it. Turning her head to the side she noted that at this angle, it almost looked like teeth… or claws.

_How very strange…_

She listened to the soft sounds of Esme's feet as she rummaged around in the cupboards for the towels, and then headed off to her room to fetch something else and thought about Edward's question to her, downstairs.

"_But, what about Bella? What did you see, about Bella?"_

She had chosen not to answer him, then. Not because she wasn't listening, or because she didn't want to ease her brother's worry. She chose not to answer because it wasn't what she _had _seen about Bella that had her so concerned. The reason for her worry was something different, entirely.

She had seen all sorts of things in her vision. A lot of these things really didn't make much sense, for now, at least. The thing that really frightened her, however, was…

She couldn't see Bella at all.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: I'd like to take a moment to thank those of you who have put this story on your alerts list, and especially to those who have reviewed this story, so far. It's those reviews that push me to do my best to get the chapters out quickly. Thank you so much!**_

_**On a final note, I mentioned earlier that this story is based on early BD, however, I did have to change some of the latter chapters, along with the general Timeline, in Eclipse, to tie this all together. So, in this story, Edward and Bella were already married by the time Chapter 23 of Eclipse came into play. I'm also going to be doing a little back and forth from time to time… This may seem a little strange, but TRUST ME, there really IS a method to my madness. Mwha-ha-ha-ha-ha!**_

* * *

Jacob

"_Kiss me Jacob. Kiss me and then come back."_

Those words, and the moments that followed were the both the high and low of my existence. The reason for the high is pretty obvious. Especially for my pack-mates who had to relive the moment in their heads, not without much complaint, mind you. The low was, knowing that I didn't deserve it.

Man, I really was a dog!

But, damn it, she loves me, too… She just doesn't realize how much… Not yet.

_Pipe it down Jacob_, Sam's voice grumbled inside my head, _We've got bigger things to worry about, at the moment_.

We ran swiftly through the woods toward the sound and the smell of the enemy. Separate, yet connected as one through our minds, we spread out around the area like a spider's web, the perfect formation in which to ensnare our prey. This was what we were born to do.

The sounds and smells were horrible! Never before had I seen so many leeches at once! The damned bloodsuckers were everywhere. And, they were so _strong! _

We had been told about the strength of the newborns, but I severely underestimated them. They came at us in droves, and we met with them head on, attacking in sets of twos and threes. It seemed that for every one we would take down, two more would appear from around the trees. The Cullens fought alongside us. It was strange, fighting the enemy with the enemy, unlikely allies, battling together for the common cause. It was something I hope to never have to do again.

The little one, Alice, was setting fires to the mangled pieces as she went, causing nauseating plumes of purplish smoke to permeate the air. My nostrils burned and stung worse than my injuries. My wounds would heal themselves long before I got the stench out of my nose.

I searched everywhere, through every clearing we tore through, every group of newborn vampires, for that red-headed bitch. Victoria was nowhere to be seen. We continued, onward, pushing further and further out into the oncoming vamps…

Further and further out… Victoria was nowhere to be seen…

_Oh hell, no!_

Victoria knew about us. We had been tracking her for months. One thing I'd learned about her was that she was not stupid. She knew we would head straight for her newborn army. And, I'm betting she knew the Cullens would be with us, as well. If my suspicion is correct, she'll be counting on Edward and Bella being together. She would want him to watch Bella die…

This was a set up.

I broke formation and turned tail back the way we had come, zig-zagging through the trees and brushes, swerving around the various battles that were taking place.

_Kiss me Jacob. Kiss me and then come back._ Her voice crept back into my thoughts, again.

Those words, and the moments that followed were the both the high and low of my existence. I was a low-down, dirty, mangy mutt. I never intended to run off and die in a blaze of glory, just to clear the way for Bella to live out her happily-ever-after with Count Smugula. But, I'll be damned if I would just roll over and presume that Edward could handle the female, and whatever she had planned, on his own. I'd lay down my life in a second, if it would keep Bella alive.

_Jacob_!

There was Sam, again. I flattened my ears against my head and kept running back to the campsite.

_Jacob, come back here, right now! That's an order!_

_No can-do Sam_. _Bella's in trouble. I know it!_

_I'm not messing around Jake! We need you here, now!_

My feet slowed, my will being bent by the Alpha's command. But, I was still moving. That's when I remembered something that would change everything.

_No, Sam… I'm going. I made a promise. Now, I've got to keep it._

I could feel Sam's anger at my refusal, but I shook it off. Something inside of me shifted… I'm not sure _how _I know this, but, I am certain that Sam cannot command me, any longer.

_I'm sorry Sam. My place isn't here, any longer. I've got a promise to keep._

I listened, but there was no response. In fact, now I think of it, I can no longer hear the rest of the pack either. For the first time, since I became part of this mystical mess, I was alone in my head.

I was a lone wolf.

With a leap, I picked up speed and continued on my way, pushing myself faster and faster as I went. Bella's voice and her voice, alone, continued to echo in my mind.

_Kiss me Jacob. Kiss me and then come back._

Hold on, Bella, Honey… I'm on my way…

* * *

Jacob shot straight up in bed, with a shout, and struggled to untangle himself from the sweat soaked sheets.

It was the same damn dream, night, after night.

His conscience wouldn't let him forget.

Swinging his long legs over the side of the bed, he rested his elbows on his knees and glanced at the clock on his bedside table, while he took a few moments to calm himself. Grimacing, he took note of the time.

3:42am.

No change, there, either.

He opened the drawer and pulled out the tiny, broken watch that he kept there.

Through the cracked crystal face, you could just barely see the hands which had been frozen forever, silently screaming the exact time that his life had lost its meaning.

3:42am.

Sighing, he placed the watch, along with a couple of other items from the drawer into the pocket of his sweats, before standing and walking out of the room.

Still barefoot, he padded silently through the little house, toward the front door, stopping only to grab a glass of water, on his way out. Once outside, he continued his journey across the new lawn, toward the detached garage.

A foggy mist hovered low over the ground and this, along with the cool sensation of the early morning dew which was wetting his bare feet, did little to alleviate his feeling of déjà-vu.

Inside the garage, Jacob leaned against the side of his old rabbit and emptied the contents of his pocket. There was one watch, one lighter and one pack of generic cigarettes. With shaking hands, he fished one out of the pack and lit up, taking one long pull after another before, finally, looking back at the fragile watch that he held in his palm.

He had been too late.

The sight Jacob stumbled upon as he burst through the trees and into the clearing where they had camped, was one that he would never forget.

Seth was already there. How could he have forgotten that he would be? He was pretty banged up, but still doing his best to tear apart some blond headed leech, despite his injuries. Edward was surrounded by three more of these putrid, bloodsucking maggots. The sound of screeching metal filled the air. Someone was being torn apart, but they were all wound so tightly together that for the life of him, he couldn't tell who…

And, Bella was screaming.

Hoarse, terrified, screams clawed their way out of her throat and pierced the night, and mingled with the other sounds of mayhem, around her.

And, she wasn't alone.

Victoria was holding Bella down on her knees, forcing her to watch the battle which was taking place between Edward and her newborn minions. She was covered in blood, much of it was pouring down her left arm which she waved in their direction, as though she were trying to draw their attention away from Edward and to herself, instead. But, there were many other wounds that were plain to see, as well. The red-head was grinning, widely and appeared to be whispering something into Bella's ear, before locking eyes with Jacob as she leaned in to take a bite out of Bella's right shoulder.

All of this, he took in within a matter of seconds, but it felt like hours. With a snarl, he had charged at her, teeth bared, fully intending to take off the bitches head before her teeth could make their mark.

As if this was what she had been waiting for, the bloodsucker had actually giggled, and called to him, "Here, puppy, puppy," while releasing her grip on Bella, who dropped, unceremoniously to the ground in a heap as she turned and met Jacob's attack head on.

They collided at full speed. The impact was what Jacob imagined it would feel like if he were to run his car into a brick wall. This was not his first fight with a vampire, by far. But, it was his first fight with one alone. It knocked the wind right out of him, causing him to lose his grip on her. Victoria took her advantage, clawing at his side, leaving bloody tracks in his flesh, before pulling back her fist and pummeling him, smashing his ribs. The pain was excruciating. However, her attention being focused on his body, rather than his head gave him the opportunity to latch onto her other arm with his teeth.

She shrieked, and tried to twist away. She ceased her assault on his side, and began lashing, instead, at Jacob's face, but he wasn't letting go. He had closed his eyes and shook his head, viciously, back and forth. He reveled at the sound of her cries, as the arm tore itself free.

He tossed the appendage behind him, and advanced upon her, again, letting his tongue loll out in a big wolfish grin.

He was really going to enjoy this.

"Do you think that killing me is going to save your little friend?" She asked him, in a remarkably innocent, little girl's voice, "Why, she's already as good as dead, to you. Tell me, if she survives… how much are you going to love her, when she's just. Like. Me?"

The rest was a blur to him.

He couldn't say, exactly, when Leah had arrived to help her little brother, or when the two of them had helped Edward defeat his newborn attackers. He couldn't recall, exactly, when the rest of the Cullens showed up, or how long it took him to finish off that life-sucking bitch. All he knew was that the second her head hit the ground, his focus was on the near lifeless body that was sprawled on the forest floor.

Upon closer inspection, he could see that Victoria's show of preparing to bite Bella had only been just that. Just a ruse to get his attention on her and away from Bella, to allow the damage she had already done to do its work. She had already been bitten at least once. It was hard to tell how many more there might have been with so many other wounds covering her body.

Jacob's vision had blurred with tears of anger and regret. He had phased back into his human form at some point, uncaring of the people around them, and his current state of undress, and had her in his arms. He heard Edward speaking to him, felt him tugging at Bella, trying to tear her away from him… Telling him that if they were quick enough, he might be able save her… Telling Jacob he had to let her go… That if he loved her, he'd let her go.

"I told her that I would come back," was all he could say, in response.

He watched through bleary eyes as Edward scooped her body up and out of his arms, noted the odd angle at which her limbs seemed to hang and sway with his movements as though she were nothing more than a ragdoll.

Edward ran with her. He ran so quickly that all Jacob could see was a blur and then they were gone. He heard Alice say something about letting him know whether or not she made it, and soon she and the other Cullens were gone as well.

Jacob had stayed, staring at the place where she had been on the forest floor, for a long time. In his hands, he held her watch. The band was broken, and the face had been smashed. The time read 3:42am.

Standing in the garage, he ran his fingers over the bloodstained band and closed his eyes.

He recalled, now, the days he spent wondering. Then on the third day, he received an envelope, addressed by one Edward Cullen, in the mail. Inside, there were only seven hand written words that told him what, deep down, he already knew.

"I did what I could. I'm sorry."

Jacob opened his eyes and looked around the garage. He and Bella had so many memories there. Funny, how something like a dirty old garage can give him some sort of peace. Those memories, a few letters and a broken watch were all he had left of her, now.

He found it hard to talk to Charlie, whenever he ran into him.

The last thing Charlie knew was that his daughter went on her Honeymoon, six months ago, with Edward and then never came back to Forks. Jacob had heard him, sometimes, talking to Billy about E-mails he would receive from her. How he had, originally, been upset about taking off like that, without even so much as a formal goodbye, but how he also realized that she was a married woman who had her own life. Of course, he also talked about how much he hated it because Bella would always be his little girl.

No, Jacob couldn't find words to say to Charlie. What could he say, anyway?

_Oh, by the way, Charlie, your daughter is really dead. The Cullens have just been writing you, to keep you in the dark about it. What? Why would they do that? How did she die? Well, sir, she was killed by a vampire, whose mate was killed by Edward, because he was trying to kill Bella to begin with, because… Well, you see, Edward and the Cullens are all vampires, too. By the way, I'm a werewolf and I know that this is the truth because I was there, the morning that it happened._

Not only would the council come unglued, but Charlie would have him institutionalized for life.

No… Like it or not, he had to keep his mouth shut. But it sucked. It sucked hard. And, he missed Bella so damned much.

If only Edward, Bloodsucking Cullen had left her alone, to begin with…

Jacob got ready to flick the cigarette out into the yard, and then thought the better of it, dropping it, instead, into an empty soda can.

Billy would pitch a fit if he knew he was smoking. He'd probably be hollering stuff about how those things would kill him. Forget the fact that Jake's lungs would most likely heal themselves from any damage before sunrise.

Tucking his items back into his pocket, he slowly made his way back toward the house. He wanted to be back in bed before sunrise. Billy was an early riser and he had a spectacular nose on him, for an old guy.

Jacob crept back over the lawn, up the porch and opened the door as quietly as he could, turning it to close it as softly as possible, and turned back around to see Billy shaking his head and giving him the stern eye, from the kitchen table.

"Those damned things will kill you, you know."

_Damn it_, Jacob thought to himself.

_If only I could be so lucky._


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: thanks again, for all the wonderful reviews, and to those who have favorited this story and put it on their alerts. You guys totally rock.**_

* * *

Several months had passed since the day of Bella's botched transformation. The family, although worried about what the future may hold for them, found themselves marveling over the creature that she had become.

Her skin did not glitter, as theirs did, but it glowed with a fresh satiny gleam that was beautiful to behold. It wasn't something that would cause alarm amongst humans, but it was striking, nonetheless. Her hair, which she always referred to as _mousy--_although Edward would claim otherwise--flowed over her shoulders in rich, lustrous, chestnut waves.

There was a new grace in Bella's step, and she was quick. She wasn't nearly as fast as the rest of them. There was no way that she could keep up with them, if they really wanted to outrun her. But, she was much faster than any human Olympic runner could ever dream to be.

Best of all, Bella was not blood-hungry, as they had feared. In fact, blood wasn't on the menu, at all. And, she loved being able to take afternoon naps.

Carlisle was still fascinated by her. He studied over numerous old books and journals, and even inquired, albeit discreetly, about beings of this nature with close acquaintances, outside of their personal fold. But, he still had nothing solid.

The lack of her total transformation still seemed scientifically explainable, as far as he was concerned. But, the fact that she had acquired new strengths and abilities along with her physical changes, seemed to deny this line of reasoning. He was determined; however, that if ever before there was a being like his daughter-in-law, he would find it. It was only a matter of time.

He just hoped that time was something that Bella had.

* * *

Edward was having a hard time of it.

Bella had asked him, one day, if he thought it would be safe for her to go and visit Charlie.

"Bella, I don't think that would be a very wise idea," he said to her, shaking his head.

"Why not?" she asked, I don't look that much different, really. I don't have to worry that I'm going to want to… bite him. What would it hurt?"

"Because, love, how are you going to explain it to him, if you never age?"

She studied his face, for a long while. There was something in his eyes that told her that he was hiding something from her. She could always tell.

There was no way for any of them to know that she would or wouldn't grow older. He knew that, just as much as she did. He had spent enough nights holding her, while she cried; imagining herself as an old wrinkled woman, still vying for his affections. She had no hope of ever being able to stop the aging process, now, if it were meant to be.

"Well, Edward… It would be at least a few years before he would expect anything much different. And, I could cross that bridge when the time came, couldn't I? Come on, Edward! He's my father. Why should I cut my time shorter than I need to?"

She paced around their room, finally coming to rest at the foot of the bed, crossing her arms and staring at him, crossly.

"I know there's something you aren't telling me."

The only response was silence.

"Edward, I love you. You know that I do. But, I'm feeling alone. I don't fit in, anywhere, now. You are wonderful, and everyone has been great. Alice, especially, so, even if she does try to stuff me into ridiculous outfits. But, I am completely different from everyone. I don't even know what I am! And…." Bella looked away from him and shuffled her feet, as she finished, "I miss him, Edward. I miss Charlie, and Angela, and Jacob, and…."

Edward stood up, suddenly, his eyes darkening as he paced around the side of the bed to stand in front of her.

"Oh, let me guess, _that's_ what this is _really_ all about! Why don't you just come out with it, then?"

Bella was stunned at his reaction. It seemed completely out of character, to her.

"What? What are you talking about? I just told you that I want to see Charlie!"

"No, that's not _just_ what you said," Edward corrected her. This isn't about Charlie at all, is it? Not really. This is about the dog."

"Edward, I've told you how I feel about that." Bella felt herself getting angry. Where did this come from?

"You think I don't know, Bella? You think it doesn't still tear me up, how you feel about him? You tell me that you choose me. You marry me. You choose an immortal life, with me… But, when things get tough, you want to go running to him!"

"That's not true, and it's not fair!" She shouted back.

"Isn't it, though?"

"No! It isn't. Edward, you are being childish, jealous and just plain mean! Jacob is my friend. And, yes. I do miss him. So what? You said it yourself, I chose _you_. Isn't that enough for you?"

"You love him." Edward stated this as fact, not a question. This argument was taking a familiar and unpleasant turn.

Repeating her same words from last year, she said, simply, "I love you, more."

This time, Edward just shook his head.

"If that's so true, my darling, then why is his name that you call for, in your sleep?"

Bella found herself at a loss for words. She had no idea that she had ever done that! She couldn't even recall dreaming about Jacob. Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to think of a response.

Not giving her any more time, Edward shot another pained but angry look before he marched, quickly, to the door. As he did so, his parting words came out more like a hiss, between his clenched teeth.

"That's what I thought."

Finally finding her voice, she followed behind him, reaching the door in time to see him heading down the stairs.

"Edward, wait!" She called to him, pleadingly. W_hy did he always leave?_

But, Edward continued on his path down to the main floor, across the great living room and out the front door, without another glance in her direction.

Bella remained at the banister, staring down at the closed door for many seconds, before she stomped back into their room and slammed the door. Wiping angry tears from her eyes, she threw herself down on the plush bed, picked up a pillow and screamed into it. The irony of what she had just done was nearly enough to make her laugh, after the fact. After all, she was living in a house full of vampires. It wasn't like they wouldn't hear her!

She barely had time to complete the thought before she heard a light knock on the other side of the door.

"Bella," are you okay, in there?

Emmett's voice sounded genuinely concerned. Bella wondered if his tone wasn't due more out of questioning her sanity as opposed to her physical well being.

"Yes, I'm fine," she replied, sullenly. "Just peachy."

"Oh, okay… Well, that's good. You know? Cause, um… Usually, when someone screams like that, it means they aren't."

"Yeah," Bella answered him, feeling foolish to find herself nodding, in response. "That's usually true. Especially, when it's me, we're talking about." She heard Emmett chuckle, from behind the door.

"That's for sure," Emmett agreed. Bella could hear the smile in his voice.

"So, would it be alright if I came in? I mean, if you'd rather, I guess we could carry on this conversation through the door, but I have to admit, I feel kind of stupid, out here. And, I might feel more convinced that you're alright if I could see for myself, given your past history, and all."

Bella, who was sitting cross legged on the bed, hugging her pillow tightly in front of her, found herself nodding, again, before remembering that he couldn't see her. This time, she actually did laugh a little bit, despite herself.

"Sure, sure," she consented, surprising herself with the words that came out of nowhere, with such ease. _How long had it been since she'd used them?_ This whole argument with Edward, over Jacob, brought back a lot of memories.

The door creaked open slowly. Emmett's grinning face peeked through the doorway, before he brought the rest of himself around it.

"Hi," Bella said, awkwardly. She sniffed and pushed her hair back behind her ears and gave him a watery smile.

"Hi," Emmett responded in turn, "Trouble in paradise, huh?"

Bella blew through her teeth, and shrugged. "Something, like that."

"Edward being a prick?" Emmett asked, still smiling, surprising Bella with his bluntness.

"Uh… Well… Yeah," she spoke slowly, her eyebrows her lips turning up at the corners. "Something, like that."

Emmett's smile softened and he sat down, mimicking her cross legged position, on the other end of the bed. Bella watched him, curiously as he then, looked around him and grabbed another fluffy pillow and placed it on his lap, wrapping his bulky arms around it and completing the look. With a dramatic sigh, he rested his chin on top of the pillow and looked at her with big soft eyes and said, "Men are such pigs!"

"Oh, Emmett!" Bella swung her pillow, fully intending to hit him in the face with it, failing miserably as he batted it away. His eyes sparkled with mirth. _Leave it to him, to try and make me laugh, when I just want to feel sorry for myself!_

"C'mon, Bella," he chided. I heard the whole thing. Ole Eddie just needs to chill out, you know?"

Bella looked away and huffed, trying not to meet his eyes.

"And you," he continued. "Look at you! Just sitting here, all bummed out, when what you ought to be doing, is learning to enjoy the new you! How many months has it been since you went and fell down the stairs? Or, more importantly, how long has it been since you just went…anywhere? I mean, that would drive me crazy!" He was nodding enthusiastically, at his own words.

"You don't understand, Emmett," Bella said, sadly. "I don't enjoy this at all! This isn't what I wanted to be. This… Whatever this is! I wanted to be like you and Edward. I was so happy to think that I was finally going to really be with Edward and be a part of this family. Forever. And, now? I don't know what this is. I don't know if I'm immortal, or if I'm going to grow old and die, like everyone else. I can't do all of the things that you guys can do. I can't really be a part of anything, any more than I was before. The only difference is that, now, I have more questions about myself and my future than I ever had! And, the one and only good thing that I can see, so far, is that this gives me the opportunity to spend more time with my human family and other people who I love. And now, I can't even have that! Edward forbids it! Forbids it! And, all because of what? Because, he's jealous? Because, he's afraid of letting me make my own decisions? Because, _he can_?

Bella took a couple of deep breaths, after her rant, and then found she still wasn't finished and took off again.

"What does he think is going to happen? Doesn't he trust me? Why? Okay, okay…so I did something…once… That, maybe I'm not too proud of." She wasn't about to elaborate and tell him about her kiss with Jacob in the clearing, but it felt good to vent, anyway. Emmett, for his part, just listened, intently as she carried on.

"But, I was honest with him about it, and he told me that he understood! I've never lied to him. I've always put him first! He tells me that he loves me, but I ask him for one thing. One basic thing and he goes bananas! And, when he's here with me, I can't even think straight. I'm always too concerned about his feelings. Well, what about my feelings, huh? Not what Edward thinks my feelings are, or should be, but what I really feel?"

Finished, at last, Bella flopped back down into her pile of pillows at the head of the bed. Surprised that he hadn't fled the room, during her tantrum, she turned her head slightly to watch for Emmett's response.

He waited, patiently, for a beat before asking, "Are we all done?"

Bella nodded her head, once.

"Okay… Let's start with what we want… I didn't plan to be a vampire, you know. For me, this all started because I was mauled by a freakin' bear!"

Emmett raised his hands like claws, to demonstrate, and Bella had to admit to herself that she found his theatrics entertaining.

"But, yeah," he shrugged, "now that I'm here, I have to admit that this life has its perks. I get to do the mauling now! And, I do get to spend the rest of my life with the woman I love, and have totally amazing sex…"

Bella's eyebrows went up, and she made a face.

"Okay, okay… I'm just saying… It _is_ pretty awesome. But, you know what, Bella? You might not think of me as someone who knows a whole lot, but I do know some things, and I happen to think that everything happens for a reason."

It was Bella's turn to just be quiet and listen, and although she rolled her eyes at this, she also raised her hand in a rolling motion, beckoning him to continue.

"So what if you aren't a vampire? Just because it has its ups doesn't mean it doesn't have plenty of downs to go with them. And, if you are going to sit there and tell me that you don't feel like you are a real part of this family, then you aren't as smart as I thought you were! I don't make a habit of hanging out and having girlie pow-wows, okay? You are my little sister, whether you want to admit it or not, so there!" Emmett reached out and poked her in the arm for emphasis.

"Now, about Edward," he whistled softly, before continuing. "That's a whole new ball of wax."

"You ask, 'Why this? And why that?' Well, one of the reasons Edward treats you like you are still breakable is because you kind of encourage it."

Bella immediately sat upright. "I do not!"

"Do too!" Emmett leaned right back at her.

"You ask his permission to do things, don't you? You told me that you asked him if he thought it would be alright if you saw your dad.

Bella shot him a dirty look.

"You've got to stop that stuff. You may or may not still be human, but you sure as hell aren't as fragile as you used to be. At least, not on the outside. And, if he's jealous of the werewolf, let him be! That's not your problem, it's his! You've got to stop worrying so much about what Edward feels is good for you, and more about what _you_ feel is good for you. Get out there… Have some fun, sometimes! It might bug him at first. He might get all broody for a bit, but he'll come around. He loves you. And…" he leaned toward her conspiratorially. "Men find confidence totally sexy."

"Ugh! Emmett, that's not what I'm worrying about, here!"

"Well, it's still true! And, if for some reason, he doesn't come around, you're still my little sister. If you want, I'll break his arm."

Bella fought to suppress a grin as she said, "He's also your brother…and his arm will just heal right away."

"Yup. He is my brother, alright. All the more reason to break his arm," he smirked. "And, when it heals, I get to break it, again!"

Bella giggled, quietly and looked at her lap.

"You just cheer up, Sis." Emmett scooted over and swung one muscular arm around her shoulders. "You don't need to be crying over this. In fact, I know just what you need."

"You do, huh?" She eyed him, suspiciously. "And, what would that be?"

Emmett's grin grew wide and he held her firmly in place as he reached behind his back.

"Pillow Fight!"

*Whack* 


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: For those of you who have set this story on their alerts, I want to apologize if you got several notifications of this chapter going up. There was something that I found, after I had posted that needed to be fixed, and the editor wasn't allowing me to do so, so I had to delete it, and re-do. **_

_**I'd like to thank you guys, again, for the interest you have shown in my story. It makes a girl feel good.**_

_**So, here we are at Chapter 6.**_

_**Who's wondering what's going on with Edward?**_

_**

* * *

  
**_

Edward was driving.

He had no particular destination in mind. But, the feeling of the Volvo's tires gripping and hugging the turns as he raced along the smooth and winding Washington roads was soothing to him.

His emotions had gotten the best of him. Something that he had promised himself he would never do. But, then again, how many times had he broken that particular promise to himself, before?

When it came to Bella, he didn't feel very much like he was in control of anything.

As he drove, he let his mind wander back through their relationship from its beginnings. How her blood had called to him, so insistently. How he had tried, and failed to avoid her. And how he, at last, had accepted her inexplicable hold upon him and surrendered, not only his will, but his un-beating heart, as well. He was hopelessly, and devotedly hers.

The fact that she was human did not tarnish his affections. In fact, it made their time together all the more precious to him. After all, mortality did not equal up to eternity and he wanted to cherish every moment that he had with her.

Yet, when the day came that Bella decided that she wanted to become like him, he was torn.

He told her that he would not be the cause of her damnation. She argued with him, she brought it up at every possible opportunity, coaxing and reasoning with him. She told him that she did not believe the way that he did. She did not see him as something evil, or monstrous. She played his selfish nature against him; the very selfish nature that she refused to believe existed.

Looking back, Edward now realized just how much she had begun to sway him towards her point of view. It was as if she had placed a rose tinted mirror in front of him, and forced him to view himself as the man that she envisioned.

He began to let down his guard. He began to enjoy his quiet moments. And, for the first time in over a century, he felt whole.

The problem with pretending to be something that you are not is that you start to believe it.

He recalled first trying to keep her away from her shape-shifting friends. He was worried, not only about what they could possibly do to her, but also, what kind of trouble she could get into all by herself. Alice, for whatever reason, was incapable of seeing her, when she was in their presence and the idea of her being harmed was terrifying to him. But, gradually, after she proved to him time and again that she would resist, he had given her free reign. At least, this way he could know when she would be with them. And, this had made her so happy…

And he found himself behaving differently afterward.

Jacob had affections for Bella that reached far and beyond mere friendship. And the thoughts and fantasies that the boy nearly shouted into Edward's head were nauseating to him. Even so, he allowed everything. He had even asked Bella, on more than one occasion, if she wanted to pursue a life with the boy, instead of remaining with him.

He became proud of his tolerance. She was, after all, human. He could not expect perfection from her. Nor, did he want perfection. He only wanted her love.

He accused Bella of being in love with the mutt. She did not deny this. She, instead, professed to Edward that she loved him, more.

He told himself that that would be enough.

Then there was the tent. Freezing, as she was, she needed the warmth. There was nothing that he, personally, could do to help her. And so, he sat back and allowed the mongrel to crawl into her sleeping bag and hold her.

Edward had opened up to him, while his angel slept. He discussed things with Jacob that he dreamed he would, before. Because, he told himself that he should be thankful to him. He was thankful, despite how horrible it made him feel to see her in Jacob's arms, because he was helping her.

But when the dawn of battle had come, Edward realized his mistake. And, he was not thankful at all.

The dog had taken advantage of his beloved Bella's tender heart. He had forced a plea from her; a plea that not only allowed him to taste her lips, but also, for him to vow to return to her.

And his new found, permissive demeanor crumbled and left him to face himself anew.

He, unlike his precious Bella, was not human. And, he _was _possessive of her. And he did not have to play fair. And, when the battle had ended, and he marched across the field to remove his beloved from the arms of that filthy, naked, man-boy wolf, he saw his opportunity.

Edward did not _lie_ to the boy. He told him that he had done what he could do. And this was the truth. But his apology, he knew, would leave Jacob to believe otherwise. And, in truth, Edward was sorry. Sorry that he had to go to such lengths to be certain that he would be able keep Bella for himself.

But, now, in light of the unforeseen problems with Bella's transformation, he could see it all backfiring on him.

How could he allow Bella to see her father? If she did, the Blacks would surely know that she lived. Jacob would certainly tell her what he had done. And, why would she not believe him? What would happen, then?

There was something especially different about Bella now. Edward could see it, in her eyes. Though her blood still pumps through her veins, it no longer sings for him. But, likewise, he no longer holds thrall over her. She loves him still, he believes. But, there is something about her that he cannot put his finger on. A strength, perhaps, which she does not even see in herself, that tells him he could lose her.

He needed to do something. He had to go back. He had to tell her that he was sorry. But, he wasn't ready yet. T here were decisions that he had to make, first.

* * *

Carlisle had practically moved into his study.

He had begun to flip through a very old volume that had been copied during one of his trips to Voltera, many years ago. It contained a history, of sorts, regarding the origins of the Elders and the creation of the elite government.

He did not expect to find anything concerning Bella, in this book, but he found the study of it, incredibly interesting.

There was a story of a fourth being that Carlilse had never had the pleasure to meet that was quite fascinating, indeed. This gentleman had a taste for humans that did not involve bloodletting, which was not common to the average vampire. He could not be considered an incubus, for he did not feed upon the women that he sought after. There were even, amazingly, records of children that had been born to him; children that were watched and studied by the others, usually, from afar. There were many notes written about these hybrid children, and quite a few sketches to go with them.

Carlisle was still pouring over this very book when Alice came by to check in on how the search was going. She danced her way over to the desk and peered over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of what he was reading. So involved, that he didn't even realize that she was there until her finger stabbed at something near the bottom of one of the pages.

"Carlisle," she breathed, her tone urgent. "Do you see this?"

His eyes traveled to the point above her finger and studied a sketch of what appeared to be a birthmark, on the side of one of the children, which was curiously defined.

"Carlisle, I've seen this before!"

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_**Okay guys, you know what I'm going to say. Please read and review! It keeps the muse happy. It's much better when I don't have to beat her with sticks. And hey, lurkers... Psst! Yeah, you guys... That's right, I see you, there! That goes for you too. Pretty, pretty please?  
**_


	7. Chapter 7 Part 1

_**A/N: Okay guys, this one is going to be a little short. I have more in the works, and was thinking about putting it all together in one chapter, but honestly, RL has been pretty hectic and I'm afraid there would have been more of a wait than I would have liked before I got it all out there, so I'm breaking it up into two halves. It's probably better that I do it like this, anyhow, because there is going to be quite a bit of jumping as I tie a lot of things together, in this one. After a whole lot of staging, I'm finally reaching the time when I can finally start to pick up the pace.**_

_**I've received a lot of questions regarding Bella's birthmark, how and when Jacob is going to play in, and the general direction that I plan to take with this story. I don't want to give away too much, because well... Where's the fun in that? But, I will promise that there IS a definite plot-line and that the birthmark does symbolize something very specific. Just please hang on and bear with me, guys. All your questions will be answered in due time.  
**_

_**I'll try my best to get the second installment of chapter 7 out on, or before, the end of this next coming weekend.**_

_**Once again, I want to thank everyone for their reviews, and urge you all to keep 'em coming, because they really do inspire me and bring me indescribable happiness!**_

_**- Morgania**_

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"I haven't laughed that hard since... I, honestly, can't remember how long it's been!"

Bella blew a strand of hair out of her face, smiling at the feathers that flew up and away, as well. Her room was thrashed. Two of her pillows were torn to shreds and the feathers were everywhere. The blankets had, somehow, ended up on the floor, one lamp had been knocked over neither one of them could figure out how and when one of Emmett's shoes had found its way onto the dresser.

Still grinning, Bella dusted herself off, sending more feathers flying, and said, "I'm going to need to clean this up, before Edward gets home. But, first, I'm going to get something to eat. Kicking your butt is exhausting!"

"You wish!" Emmett retorted. "You and I both know that I, totally, put the smack down on you."

With a haughty air, Bella replied, "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say!" She looked around the room and then back to Emmett, who had retrieved his shoe from her dresser and was currently hopping on one foot while putting it back on.

He had been right. She _had_ needed this. Normally, the thought of making this sort of a mess would have her in a hissy. But, she found that she couldn't care less. It felt wonderful to just do something spontaneous and silly.

"Oh, my!" Bella and Emmett, both, turned at the sound of Alice's exclamation.

"What have you two done?" Alice tip-toed across the room to stand in front of Bella, leaving little swirls of floating feathers in her wake. "Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to find those pillows?"

Emmett was already edging backwards toward the, now, open door. "Gotta go, Bella," he said.

Bella laughed, knowing full well that he was leaving her to take the brunt of Alice's wrath, but still too happy to be concerned. "Okay, Emmett," she called out. Already, she could hear his footsteps on the stairs. "Thanks for cheering me up!"

Sweeping feathers out of her way, beforehand, Alice perched on the edge of Bella's bed and pursed her lips. Bella could tell from her expression that she was thinking, carefully, of what to say.

"I'm sorry, Alice." Bella said as she settled down next to her. She was secretly amused at Alice's expression as she watched even more feathers take flight from the sheets. "I know you worked hard on making this room beautiful for me."

"Oh, I don't really care about that," she answered, slowly. She still seemed a bit lost in her thoughts, as she continued to stare at the feathers, as they softly floated down to the floor. "I just like to make Emmett squirm."

Alice, then, turned her attention back to Bella. Her expression softened as she reached out and took her hand.

"Besides, it's really nice to see you smile, again."

"Thanks," Bella shrugged and squeezed Alice's hand in return. "It feels good. I feel more like myself. It's been a while."

"I'm glad."

"So, you aren't really mad, then?"

"No," Alice shook her head and smiled, "of course not."

Bella sighed and nodded, looking down at their joined hands and waited for Alice to say something else, but was greeted with nothing but silence. After a few more seconds she asked, "So… What's up?"

"Bella," Alice started and then paused again. She looked nervous. "I wanted to talk to you about something that's been on my mind."

"Sure. What wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong, really. It's just something that I'm curious about. But, I don't want you to think that I'm prying."

"You should know that you don't have to worry about that," Bella told her, giving her hand another warm squeeze. "You can ask me anything."

"Well, you remember the night you were…" Alice chewed her lip as though trying to put together the right words. After another brief pause, she rephrased, "the night Edward attempted to turn you?"

"Um, yeah, I don't think I'm going to forget that, any time soon. What about it?"

"That night, I happened to notice a sort of mark, on your hip… It was rather unusual, and-"

"Oh, you mean my birthmark?" Bella asked. "You know, I've been thinking about it, myself, to be honest. My mother always called it a strawberry mark.

"A strawberry mark?" Alice raised one quizzical eyebrow.

"Yeah, I know, it's kind of a silly name for it… I looked it up, once, online and found out it is called a hemangioma. It was pretty prominent when I was younger and it used to embarrass me, so much! I would throw a fit if my mom tried to get me to wear a bathing suit because I didn't want the other kids to see it. I'd always go put on a pair of shorts."

"That must have been hard, growing up." Alice noted, sympathetically. "Kids don't usually like to stand out, when they are little." Bella, enthusiastically, nodded her agreement.

"But," Alice went on, "if you've had it your whole life, I'm not sure why you've been thinking about it, too. I mean, you should be used to it, by now, I would think."

"Well, the thing is, hemangiomas are supposed to fade away over time. And, that's exactly what it did. In fact, until just recently, you could barely tell it had ever been there. I mean, you would have to have known, before hand, and really, really looked for it. But, ever since that night, it has started coming back. And, now, it's just as dark as it ever was… The only difference is that it's flatter. It used to be raised, and now it isn't. It's really strange."

"Yes," Alice agreed. "Yes, it is.." She had taken on that far away expression, again. Bella couldn't figure out why Alice seemed so worried about a birthmark, in the first place.

"Hey… Earth to Alice," Bella chided, "It's not a big deal. It's just a birthmark. We can't all be as pretty and flawless as you are, but it's nothing to worry about." Bella nudged Alice on the arm, playfully.

"Oh you stop it, right now, Bella." Alice scolded, rising from the bed to stand before her. She was so tiny, that Bella hardly felt the bed move. "You are gorgeous and you should know it, by now!"

"Well," Bella stood up beside Alice, then, and started toward the door, "This gorgeous girl is going to make herself some dinner. I'm starving!"

"Oh, well we can't have that happening." Linking her arm in Bella's Alice skipped along with her, down the stairs, smiling as if she had never been concerned, at all.

"Hey, by the way… I'm not perfect! Did I ever tell you about the funny little mole I have? It's on the bottom of my left foot…"


	8. Chapter 7 Part 2

_**AN: And, here we are with part two of chapter 7. It jumps around quite a bit, and takes on a few points of view... But, I kind of like it. *L* And, as I think you will see by the time you get to the end, things are starting to twist a little bit. As usual, thanks goes out to my lovely reviewers. You guys totally rock. And, to those who haven't yet, I'm not above begging. C'mon... Show me some love! ;-)**_

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Never before had the Quileute tribe had two separate packs of protectors.

This was something new for the elders to ponder. It was true that Jacob was next in line to be Alpha. They all knew that the day would come that he would take his place as such. But, it was always assumed that there would be an eventual change of power. None of them ever considered the idea of something like this occurring. In fact, up until now, not a single one of them would have thought it possible. But then, there had never been so many youths phasing, at one time, either. And there had never, ever been a girl.

So, why was all this taking place, now? History had proven that the number of protectors grew in response to the amount of threat. It could be easily assumed that the alarming rate of new wolves was in preparation for the most recent attack by the newborns. But, if that was all there was to worry about, things should have slowed by now. But they had not.

After the split, Paul and Jared remained with Sam and he continued to take in and mentor the newcomers, while one by one, many of the others left to join Jacob's pack.

One new curiosity that they observed, over the last several months, was that both Alphas could communicate with each other, while phased, even though the two packs could not. This proved convenient for obvious reasons. The two packs, although separate, could still work together in unison, if the need should ever arise.

Although protection was not something that one would usually frown upon, this only brought more concern upon the Elders. It was as if they were witnessing the birth of a new army. But, for what means?

The only constant, in their midst, were the Cullens, and the treaty between their clans had been held for centuries. Surely, they could not be the cause of this much disruption, could they?

Over many meetings and long discussions, the elders could agree only on one thing. Something serious must be in the coming. All they could do was watch and wait.

* * *

Bella

I had just finishing rinsing my dishes in the sink, and was in the process of turning off the water, when I felt Edward's arms slide around me, from behind. As much as my hearing had improved, the silence in which he moved never ceased to catch me off my guard.

"I'm sorry, my love," he whispered into my ear, his lips traveling down my neck and planting a soft kiss on my shoulder, "I've behaved like a jealous fool. Will you forgive me?" His hands rubbed lightly up and down my sides as he spoke.

In truth, I was no longer angry. I was still hurt that he had not trusted me and felt that my choices were his too make. After venting to Emmett, earlier, I realized that there were many things that Edward and I needed to discuss, but Edward's apologetic tone, combined with his feather light caresses, blew the wind right out of my sails.

It had been a long time.

I turned, in his embrace, and wrapped my arms around him, bringing my lips up to meet his. There was no hesitancy in this kiss, like I had expected. I was still not used to him being un-afraid to touch me and the cool slide of his tongue against mine nearly caused me to gasp.

Never breaking contact with my lips, Edward lifted me, pulling my legs around his waist in one fluid motion, and carried me up the stairs.

Mmm… Maybe, we could talk about things, later.

* * *

'That leech lover makes me sick!'

Leah Clearwater woke up in a terrible mood.

'Of all the things that my mind can conjure up, I would have to dream about Jacob rolling around with Bella. Fucking. Swan.'

Hopping out of bed, Leah rubbed her eyes and stomped her way into the bathroom to take a shower.

'It's bad enough that I used to have to share his thoughts about her, when we ran together, but, now… Now that she's no longer in the picture, I have to see and hear this stuff in my sleep!?'

Still fuming, Leah poured a generous amount of body wash onto her loofah and began scrubbing, furiously. Somehow, having that sort of dream left her feeling exceptionally filthy.

'It never made much sense to me that Jacob was so hung up on her. I mean, okay, their dads were best friends and so they spent time together when they were little kids, so I understood the _friendship_ between them, but, how he fell so head-over-heels in love with her, was beyond me.'

'Bella was about as plain as plain could be. She was short, frail, pale and meek. She didn't have much of a figure to speak of and she treated Jake like shit. Well… I guess I can't put all of the blame on her. Jake was sort of a glutton for it and even when she tried to push him away, he just kept coming back for more.'

'And… It totally sucks that I know all this shit. I don't want to fucking know any of it. I've got my own problems.'

Leah rinsed out the loofah, and after hanging it back on its hook, began washing her hair as she continued her mental complaints.

'But, then, it sucks that everyone knows my business, too!'

Although she would never admit it to him, she felt sorry for Jacob Black. Whether or not she understood his feelings for Bella, she couldn't deny the sincerity of them. She had, on many occasions, felt his love for her through the pack bond. It saddened her because she knew, all too well, what it felt like to be rejected by the one person that lit up your world.

Imprinting had stolen Leah's love from her. Jacob's was taken by the cursed thrall of a leech. The cause was different, but the result was the same. The only difference was that, at one time, Leah had experienced what it was like to be with the one she loved. Poor Jacob never even had a chance.

Leah hated imprinting. She hated vampires. And, if only for the loyalty she felt for her Alpha and out of sympathy, born of understanding, she hated Bella Swan.

She was supposed to go out on patrol with the pack, this evening, but she really didn't want to. Leah knew, first hand, how it felt to have to see Sam every day, knowing that he would never again be in her arms. She didn't want Jacob to see the things that she had dreamt. She didn't want him to have to feel Bella's loss all over again as a result of it. She decided that she was going to have to think of something to say that would let her off the hook, for tonight.

Maybe, if she took a night off, she could clear her mind and he would never have to know.

Her shower finished, Leah turned off the water, wrapped herself in a towel and made a quick dash back into her bedroom to get dressed for the day.

'I guess I can say one thing for Bella,' she thought to herself, 'if it wasn't for Jacob's obsession with her, I would still be stuck with Sam. I should be grateful to her, for that.'

She finished dressing and pulled her towel dried hair into a short messy ponytail and checked her reflection in the mirror, before heading back out.

'I still don't get it, though.'

'And, Bella might be dead, but…'

'She still makes me sick.'

* * *

Bella

I awoke sometime in the late hours, with Edwards arms still wrapped around me. As much as I loved this, I wondered if just watching me sleep was something that he would ever grow tired of. I mean, it couldn't be very interesting. But, it was nice. It brought back memories of him sneaking through my window, just to hold me and sing me to sleep, when I was living at Charlie's. It was little things like this that made me feel nostalgic, and warm and fuzzy inside.

I didn't want to talk about things, yet. I knew that I needed to. I needed to clear the air, and just get it all out in the open, but after the evening that we had shared, I just wanted to lay here and enjoy this feeling for a little while longer.

I closed my eyes and hoped that he hadn't noticed that I was awake.

"Bella, love…"

Edward was whispering in my ear. Once again, I was busted. I could never fool him.

"Hey, Edward," I whispered back. "How long was I asleep?"

"Only a few hours," he answered. "I didn't want to wake you. I figured that you probably needed the rest."

His golden eyes glimmered in the moonlight, and his impish smile was full of suggestive implications that caused many images of this evening's events to come flooding into my mind.

I could feel the blush reaching all the way to my toes, and Edward's smile just got that much wider. He had often told me how much he loved that involuntary response. The fact that he could still make me blush like this _and_ that he could see it, even in the darkness of our room, just killed me!

Even though it didn't help, I turned away. I just simply could not look him in the eye, knowing that I resembled a tomato. And, just like that, I felt the mood change.

"Bella, there are some things that I think I need to say…"

Aw, crap! So much for not talking. I could feel my little bubble of peacefulness float away.

"No, Edward, you don't have to say anything," I said, "we can talk in the morning." All day I had planned on how I was going to talk to him, but now that the time had come and _he_ was bringing it up, I didn't feel quite as confident.

Behind me, Edward sighed, wearily. "But, I'm afraid that I do. Bella, please, look at me."

As much as I would have preferred, otherwise, I could see that there was no getting out of this, tonight. Reluctantly, I turned back on my side to face him.

"Okay, Edward… But, maybe I should start, then."

"Alright," he answered, as he sat up, "I suppose after the way I behaved, earlier, that is fair."

Okay, Bella, I thought to myself. Here we go.

"Edward… I love you. I love you so much that I can't even begin to tell you. You are the most loving, honorable, selfless, wonderful person I have ever known, but…"

I stuttered then, at the last, not sure if I was going to be able to say what I needed to, next. Taking a deep breath, I rushed through the last of the words I had rehearsed, before I could lose my nerve.

"But, you are smothering me to death!"

I realized that I had sat up as well, and was looking at the coverlet while I said these last words. Not exactly the picture of courage. I forced my chin up and turned my eyes to the side to see him staring at me, calmly, as he waited for me to continue. I could see in his eyes, however, that my words had struck a nerve, somewhere.

"Edward, you say that it sometimes bothers you, that you can't read me. But, I try and tell you what I think and how I feel, and you just shut me down. I want to live my life with you. But, I don't want you to tell me _how_."

Edward closed his eyes for a moment, as if in thought. When he opened them, again, there was a helplessness, there, that I had not noticed before. When he spoke, his words were soft and measured.

"Bella, I only want to protect you. I want to protect this." He gestured with his hands between the two of us, for explanation.

"I don't want to tell you how to be with me, or how you should feel. But, I don't think you understand the severity of the situation."

"What situation? You are right, Edward. I don't understand. That's the problem. You use all these words like, _situation_, and… And, stuff… But, I don't _see_ where there is a situation! It shouldn't be this hard. I don't see why you feel that you have to protect this."

I mimicked his gesture from a moment ago. "I love you. You love me. I chose you. You chose me. Why is it then when I want to do something, or see someone, it becomes a situation?"

"Because, Bella…" It was Edward who was looking away, now. "I'm not the person you believe me to be. I'm not selfless. Not when it comes to you. And, I'm certainly not honorable."

I hated it when he was like this. He could be so self depreciative. Stubbornly, I argued back. "Well, I think that you are."

"Well," he replied, "You are wrong."

He let the statement hang in the air like a pregnant raincloud, between us. I didn't care to argue with him further on the topic. If he wanted to flagellate himself, I couldn't stop him so I settled on continuing with my personal argument.

"I am going to visit my father, Edward."

He continued to stare at the wall, but said nothing.

"I'm not a fragile little girl that you have to shelter all of the time. I am going to go home and visit Charlie and my friends. And, everything will be fine. You are more than welcome to come with me. I would love it, in fact, if you would."

Edward's response sounded sad and far away. "I really wish that you would reconsider," he said.

Although he couldn't see me, I shook my head. "No, Edward. I've already made up my mind."

Edward just nodded, in response. "I knew you would say that," he said. "I can tell from the sound of your voice that you are dead set on this. I hope you will forgive me, but I won't be coming along."

"Why, Edward? It might do us some good to get out of here for a few days."

I could have sworn that I heard a bitter laugh escape him. "Trust me, Bella," he whispered, "once you see everyone, you'll be glad that I stayed. I don't think you'll think me so selfless and honorable, then."

Ugh… There he goes again. I often wondered if he did this just to make me give in to his wishes. But, then again, remembering my thoughts from earlier, he _had_ been acting as though he was hiding something…

"Edward, if there is something that you aren't telling me, now would be a really good time to spit it out. I've just about had it with all the cryptic mumbo-jumbo-"

This time, he did laugh, a dry, bitter laugh that reeked of anything but humor.

"I am selfish, Bella. I love you. And, the only thing in this world that frightens me is the thought of losing you. I couldn't leave you, even when I thought it would be the right thing to do. I tried to turn you, even though I believed it to be wrong, just so that I could keep you with me, forever. I lied to myself and I lied to you when I said that I would just walk away, if ever I thought you could have a normal life… And, I lied when I said that I could live with your friendship with Jacob…"

Suddenly, this line of conversation was taking a turn that I wasn't sure I was prepared to hear.

"Edward," I stammered, my voice was shaky, even to my own ears. "Edward, what are you getting at?"

"And, that night in the woods… when I nearly lost you, again… When I saw that… That _dog," _he spat the word, like it was something foul, "holding you, with that look in his eyes… And I heard the things that he was thinking…"

Jacob was holding me? The last thing I remembered about that night was Victory tearing into me, and then waking up to Edward running, with me, into the house before I lost consciousness, again.

"There is no pride or honor in love, Bella. I knew that there were no boundaries that I wouldn't cross to keep you by my side. And, yet," Edward's voice cracked, as though he were holding back a tearless sob, "I find myself, now, facing that loss, as a direct result of my dishonesty."

"Edward," I asked again, "Edward… what did you do?"

"Alice promised him that we would send word of your condition…"

At last, Edward turned his eyes to mine. The gold had been leeched right out of them, and they glittered in the moonlight, black as pitch.

I felt as if I had been slapped and my blood ran cold as my preconceived notions, concerning my husband, were ripped away with the revelation of his final words.

"I told him that you were dead."

"No…"

My world stopped.

My heart shattered.

Edward, The room, and the house disappeared in the blink of an eye. My feet were carrying me faster that I had ever dreamed possible.

I was running.


	9. Chapter 8

**_A/N: Okay, so it's been a couple of weeks since I was last able to update this, but I hope that this chapter makes up for the wait. _**

_**Someone started a thread over at Twilighted . Net on this story. I'm thinking about posting sneak peaks of future chapters up there, if it gets any traffic. If you guys are interested, you can find the thread in the Post Eclipse Fan Fic area under Turn of Events.**_

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Bella

I was hyper-aware of the sounds and sensations around me as I tore across the clearing and into the trees.

The cool night air that whistled in my ears that seemed to dry my tears as quickly as they emerged, the soft crinkle and snap of pine needles under my feet, the sharp stinging of tiny twigs which scraped against my skin, occasionally snagging and tugging on my hair as I ducked and weaved around them, the harsh ragged wheezing of my breath and the thundering pounding of my breaking heart.

I didn't pay attention to how far I was going or where I would end up. It really didn't matter. I just kept going until, as I foolishly glanced up through the trees at the bright and silvery moon, an inconspicuous fallen log made the decision for me. I tripped over it hard enough to tumble and roll, sliding face first through the leaves and underbrush on the forest floor, knocking the wind out of me and effectively bringing my marathon to an end.

Apparently, Superior speed and grace can only go so far, where I am concerned.

Stunned and disoriented, I remained, with one side of my face pressed into the cold soil beneath the fallen leaves until I was gathered enough to drag my muddy, battered self up to my knees.

Slowly, I got to my feet and began the chore of dusting the leaves away from my nightgown before finally giving up and using the sleeve to wipe the grime off of my face.

Thank God I had felt a little chilly and put it on, after my shower, this evening. For some reason, picturing me, running naked through the woods wasn't something that I found appealing.

Sighing, and looking around, I figured that this was a good a place to stop as any. I shuffled over to a large tree and sat down, bringing my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them.

So… Now it was out. I had known Edward was hiding something from me, for a while. I just never imagined that it was something like this. I had been angry with Edward for a lot of things, but I never dreamed that he was capable of something so malicious.

It all made sense now.

This explained why, during the first few weeks, all of our walks and runs were always somewhere far from the treaty line. Some of these secluded places, I had never been before. I suppose Edward must have worried that someone would see me.

It also explains why Edward had insisted, even before the _change _that we should continue to let Charlie believe that we were on our honeymoon, rather than let me go and see him, one last time. He had told me that it would be easier to let go this way, rather than to have to leave him, all over again. And, of course, I agreed with him.

Had he planned to try and hide me away, forever?

What else had he lied about? Was there more? Did Charlie believe I was dead, too? No… No, he doesn't. I can't imagine Charlie not coming by to cause a ruckus if that were the case.

I shivered and wrapped my arms tighter, around myself as a strong breeze blew by, rustling the leaves in the trees, and causing my gown to whip around my legs. I looked back through the treetops at the moon and my thoughts returned to Jacob.

My Jacob… What would he think of me, if he were to ever see me, again? Would he think that I had gone along with the lie?

Fresh tears began to spring up from the corners of my eyes as I thought of this. I couldn't help but think that he would. And, how could I blame him? I had treated him terribly.

Bringing my attention to the bracelet I wore on my wrist, I thought about how very telling the two charms I wore were, in regards to people who had gifted them to me.

At a glance, the diamond was all a person would notice. It was beautiful, flawlessly cut and it sparkled gloriously, even in the moonlight. Despite its sentimental heart shape, it was hard and cold to the touch, but many women would have killed to have it for themselves.

Overshadowed by the big gleaming stone was, of course, Jacob's wolf. It was so small, and yet intricately carved. I could only imagine the amount of time that had gone into the making of this piece. It didn't stand out in comparison to the rock, but upon closer inspection, its beauty was enough to steal your breath.

The fact that Jacob's huge hands could create something so tiny and beautiful was amazing, to me. The monetary value of a diamond that could be purchased could not compete with the emotion and time that had obviously been put into that wolf.

I couldn't imagine that Jacob would ever want to see me again. He would have no reason to trust me and every right to hate me. There was no way that I could go to him and beg forgiveness. My heart, selfishly wanted to do just that. But, I knew that I didn't deserve it.

Emmett had been right about me.

It was Edward who had told the lie. But, I had let him. It didn't matter that I didn't know he had done it. What mattered was that I knew _something _and just never bothered to ask. I allowed him to make the decisions and, until now, I had never questioned them. Not even when they didn't seem right, at the time.

I loved Edward. But, sadly, I could see that my love wasn't enough to make him trust me. I didn't know what I was going to do, exactly, but I came to the realization that I needed a break. I needed time to think this thing through, and I knew that if I went back to that house, I would crumble. It would all become too much, and I would just let it all get swept under the rug.

I couldn't live with that, either.

I couldn't go straight to Charlie's as I had planned. Billie would know that I was there, within the first day, and Jacob would find out, as well. There would be no hiding, then. I couldn't bear the thought of Jake being angry with me. I would have to go somewhere else until I felt… Stronger.

Unfortunately, I wasn't going to get anywhere, like this. I didn't make a practice of keeping money in my nightgown, and if I walked into town looking like this, I'd get myself committed, for sure. As much I didn't want to, I was going to have to go home in order to gather some things.

My decision made, I stood up and began backtracking the way that I had come. Maybe, if I hurried, I wouldn't lose my nerve.

* * *

"Edward, where are you going?"

Esme was pacing behind Edward, as he strode across the living room, to the door. Carlisle followed closely, behind her.

"I'm going to get Bella," Edward answered, tightly. "I shouldn't have let her leave in this state. She's not thinking clearly. She's not even dressed."

"I am absolutely shocked at your behavior, Edward," Carlisle's voice stopped Edward at the doorway, but he didn't turn around. "I cannot understand what on earth would make you think that there was ever a reason to tell such a lie."

"I can't believe that you managed to hide this from me," Alice's voice floated down to them, from the staircase. She descended slowly, her face pinched into a scowl.

"I promised Jacob that we would send word, Edward. I promised. And, you used my promise to do this! I never would have let you send that letter, had I known what you were up to. And, I should have known… How did you keep it from me?"

Edward turned then, facing his accusers and smiled, although the light didn't reach his eyes.

Shrugging, Edward replied, "Well, Alice, you've been… distracted. Everyone has, really."

Little lines appeared in Alice's forehead, as her scowl deepened, but she gave no response.

"Well," Edward began edging back toward the door. "If that's all, I'll be heading out now. I'd like to catch up with Bella before she gets much further."

"Edward, she's been gone for several minutes. At this point, I don't think it would be wise of you to go after her." Carlisle approached, as he spoke, passing Edward to stand in front of the door.

"That's exactly why I need to go now."

Carlisle's eyes softened, but he held his position in front of the door.

"No, that is precisely the reason you need to stay here. By now, Bella has reached, and most likely crossed over the treaty line. I love Bella as if she were my own and would be the first to go after her if I believed that she was in any danger, but you and I both know that is not the case. We, simply, cannot break the treaty, based upon your jealousy. As much as it pains me to say it, Edward, you have brought this upon yourself."

Shaking his head, in frustration, Edward explained, "I'm not going to cross the treaty line, Carlisle. After what I told her, I doubt that she will run to Jacob, first. Bella always finds a way to blame herself, for other people's feelings. She'll be afraid to see him, right now. I'm going to Charlie's. I'm sure that's where she is headed."

His eyes bore into Carlisle's, pleadingly. "Please, Carlisle let me go to her. You can rest assured that I will not cause a scene. You have my word."

Looking past his son's shoulder, Carlisle's eyes landed on those of his wife's. She nodded her consent, and he reluctantly stepped aside and watched as Edward hurried his way to the Volvo.

"You know, Esme," he began, softly, "if Edward finds her, he will most likely be making this harder for himself. He may push her further away."

Esme leaned her head onto Carlisle's shoulder, her arms sliding her arms around his waist. "I know. But, who are we to try and tell him different? He has his own mind."

Neither of them noticed Alice, who had remained silent throughout the rest of the conversation, as she turned and walked with a purpose, back up the stairs.

* * *

Jacob

First Beach was a place where I found myself more and more often. Despite the bittersweet memories that this particular location held for me, there was something about the sound of the waves; the way the moonlight lit up the foam as the water rushed up to the shoreline that was soothing.

I came here so often, in fact, that it had become the designated place for our pack to meet up and often the place where we would part ways, as well. It was never discussed, really. It's was just a safe assumption that this was the best place to find me, and most likely the direction that I would be heading to when patrol was over.

That being said, it was not unusual that I had been pacing around for about an hour, before I saw the rest of the pack racing across the sand to meet me. This particular evening, however, someone was missing.

Focusing my attention on Seth, as he skidded to a halt, I asked, W_here is Leah?_

It wasn't the norm for Leah to be late. If anything, she usually came along before the rest of the gang did. She took her Beta position pretty seriously.

_Man, Jake… I don't know what's up with her. She wouldn't even come out of her room. She was yelling something about how she wasn't going to be able to make it out tonight; something about feeling sick… I don't know. It's probably just girl stuff. _ Seth finished his reply with a snort and a shake of his sandy head.

That just didn't ring right, to me. Leah was a lot of things, but she wasn't a flake. And, I've known her to patrol when she wasn't feeling well, before. But, as it was just a standard run, I didn't see the need to push the issue. If Leah didn't want to come along, there had to be some reason for it. Whatever that reason was, I could wait to find out.

We hadn't come across anything in quite a long time. Lately, our patrols had become something that we just kind of ran on auto-pilot. But, as the evening wore on and we approached the last stretch before we circled toward home, I found myself compelled to turn and head further into the woods, rather than just remaining on the outskirts, as usual.

I could feel my pack's confusion at this change, but they followed without question, which was probably for the best because I honestly don't know what kind of an answer I could have given, if asked. All I knew was that it was as if I were being pulled by an invisible leash toward something unseen. And, as I got further in, the smells hit me.

First, I noticed that there was an overly-sweet smell in the air. It was quite faint, but it was, distinctly, vampire. I had been privileged enough to have not endured this scent in quite some time, but it was easily distinguishable, all the same. As I continued onward, another, much stronger one came to me. It was beautiful and terrible, all at once. It clouded my senses and caused my pace to slow as I breathed it in. It was so painfully, familiar; like vanilla mingled with strawberries… Like-

Far ahead, I glimpsed a flash of white cut through the trees.

I shook myself out of my revere and took off at a dead run, in pursuit. This had to be the vampire I had smelled a moment ago. It was far too fast to be human.

The pulling sensation I had been feeling grew stronger with each leap and stride that I took. I was gaining on the creature. I could feel it. Perhaps it did not realize that it was being hunted. In my experience, vampires were quicker than this.

Within seconds, I saw it again, much closer this time. It appeared to be a female, wearing a long white gown of sorts. I cut to the side, and took off in another direction, intending to head her off, when I noticed her slowing down. She slowed to a walk and eventually stopped, leaning on a tree, as if for support.

For reasons I cannot explain, I found myself quite curious about this. Vampires aren't bound by physical limitations, like humans, so they don't need to rest. And_, is she breathing?_

I could feel worry coming in waves from my pack. They had stayed quite a ways behind me and were watching from a short distance. I could hear their voices, muttering things, in the back of my mind, but their words were unclear. It was as if they were calling from far away and we had a bad connection.

I lowered myself, almost to my belly and crept forward, silently.

Yes, she was breathing, and quite heavily so. I could make out a faint whimpering within each breath and for some inexplicable reason; I felt a pang of sympathy for her. I couldn't see her face. Her long dark hair hung like a curtain over her shoulder, and her head was turned to the side and away from me. She stared off like this for a long time, fidgeting and shifting her weight from foot to foot and I got the impression that she was debating, for some reason, on whether or not to continue on her journey.

One thing I was certain of, by now. This was no vampire. _But, what was she?_

I allowed myself to sniff the air and was, again, assaulted by that same nostalgic fragrance.

Suddenly, she stilled. Her breathing quieted, her head turned and her slender fingers swept through her hair, pulling it back to reveal her face. Her eyes scanned the darkness and although I was certain that she couldn't possibly see me, her gaze locked in on mine before she bolted off again.

All reasoning left me.

I couldn't move.

I couldn't blink.

I couldn't breathe.

I felt as if my heart and soul had leapt out of my body and fled right along with her, as she sprinted away and out of my sight, leaving nothing behind but the stirring of leaves and that beautiful scent that was so uniquely hers.

From behind me, in the darkness, the pack began to howl.


	10. Chapter 9

**_A/N: So, for some reason, this little short chapter got done pretty quick, and I thought... Hmm... I'll go ahead and post it now, rather than carry it on and make everyone wait. Maybe I'll have another one up by next weekend. Two in one week? Now, that would be cool._**

**_Please leave a review, guys. It really makes my day and keeps the muse happy!_**

**_Also, don't forget, there is still a thread at the forum over at Twilighted . Net I had a sneak preview of this, earlier and I plan to continue posting sneak peaks throughout the story, so if you ever get to wondering what's up, before a chapter is out, that's the place to check. _**

**_Thanks again, guys! You've been great!_**

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Bella

Have you ever noticed that whenever you go out, the trip back always feels like it takes much longer than the initial trip out?

That's exactly how I felt while making my way out of the woods and back to the house that I had begun to call home.

I felt panicked. I didn't want to see Edward, or talk to him at all. I was beyond furious with him and still hurt beyond words. So, how was I going to avoid him, and still manage to collect some of my belongings?

I stopped for a moment to lean against a big oak tree and catch my breath while I tried to think of what I _was going to do._

_Just because Edward was there didn't mean that I would have to talk to him, did it? I'm a big girl. I could just march right through that house, throw on some clothes, stuff a bag and walk right back out. How hard could it be? Ha, right! More likely, I would fall through the door, burst into tears and make a big ol' blubbering fool of myself. No, Bella, you'd do better to stick to the idea of avoiding him, altogether. Oh! But, wait!_

I was beginning to get an idea.

Emmett's room was on the other side of the house. Perhaps, if I could get his attention, he would help me. After all, he was the one who said that I ought to stop letting Edward control my life. He was sure to be on my side! Of course, if Rosalie was with him, I could probably forget about getting away unnoticed, but maybe, just maybe she would be preoccupied with something else…

My plan of action decided, I was just about to continue my trek home when I was overcome with a strong feeling that I was being watched. Sweeping my hair back from my face, I scanned the woods around me and saw nothing, but the feeling remained.

I should have been frightened. Most people in their right minds, especially people with a highly reliable ability to attract badness to themselves, would be. But I wasn't. If anything, I had an overpowering urge to walk out into the woods in search of what was out there. Perhaps, it was only because anything seemed less terrifying than what I was already preparing to do.

I hesitated a moment longer, still staring out into the darkness, nearly certain that someone or something was out there, looking right back at me, and halfheartedly wishing that whatever it was would just come out after me and be done with it, before I turned and forced myself to run back towards the house.

My legs felt like lead, and I forced myself to run faster. I resisted the irrational urge to turn and dash straight back into the darkness to whatever awaited me, there. As I broke through the trees, and into the clearing, the silence of the night was broken by the wailing cries of wolves.

I cut a wide path around the front of the house, hoping that I would not be seen and headed toward the back.

"You took longer than I expected you to," Alice's voice called to me, from the balcony just outside Emmett's window.

"Alice!" I whispered, "I need your help… I can't stay here-"

"You don't have to tell me," Alice cut me off mid-sentence. "Bella, I need you to know that I had no idea! I should have. I should have seen it, but I didn't! I am so sorry, Bella. I never would have believed Edward would do something like this."

"I know," I said. And, truthfully, I did. As far as I was concerned, Alice had been a sister to me long before Edward and I had taken our vows.

"Where's Edward?" I asked, I don't want him to know that I'm here."

"He's out looking for you," another voice that I knew to be Rosalie's came from behind Alice. I hadn't noticed her sitting on the patio chair, off to the side of her sliding door. "As usual, he's off and running to save his precious Bella from herself."

"Oh, give it a rest, Babe!" Emmett groaned, as he also stepped out onto the balcony. This was turning into quite the family affair.

"Hey, Bella!" Emmett leaned over the railing and beamed at me. So, it looks like old Eddie finally dug himself a hole he couldn't dig himself out of, huh? So, do I get to break his arm now, or what?"

I winced. Even after what Edward had done, I couldn't ever imagine wanting to see him hurt, even if he would heal immediately. Besides, a broken arm would do nothing to ease the pain he had caused my heart.

"Emmett," Alice scolded, "Cut it out. This isn't funny, at all. Edward's really hurt her."

"You think I don't know that?" He asked, his head turning toward her sharply, "I saw it coming, you know. Yeah! That's right, me. You aren't the only one in this family who sees stuff. I'm a guy. I know how we think. And, it isn't always with the head on our shoulders, sis!"

I could hear Rosalie make a gagging sound, from behind them. "Emmett, that's just gross," she complained.

"Yeah, well, you don't think it's so gross, when it's just you and me, Rose," he retorted.

_Ew!_

I squinted my eyes and waved my arms, hoping to get their attention, "Okay, okay! T M I! That's more than I need to know!"

"Look," I said, " I just need to get some things. Do you think Edward is going to be back soon?"

I jumped in surprise as another figure stepped out from around the side of the house.

"No," Carlisle said, sadly. "I don't believe he will be back for several hours. He thinks that you are on your way to Charlie's. I expect him to wait outside with the car for some time.

"Oh, Carlisle," I started, "I… I can't go back to Charlie's. Not yet and especially if Edward is looking for me, there. I don't want to talk to him, right now."

I could feel myself starting to shake, again. I blinked back the tears that threatened to spill over. I was so tired of crying!

"And, I can't stay here, either," I finished, in a whisper. "And, I'm so sorry about all of this. I didn't mean to stir up so much drama. Ever since I've come into your lives, it's been one thing after another-"

"Nonsense," he replied. "You always blame yourself. You were not the cause of anything."

Carlisle stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me in a fatherly embrace.

"It is I who am sorry. I cannot undo what Edward has done, but I can and will do whatever I can to help you, Bella. I love Edward as if he truly was my very own child, but that doesn't mean that I cannot recognize when he has made an irreparable mistake. I can only hope that we have not lost you, as the result of it."

"No," I sniffled and clung to him, tightly. "I love you all, too much. And, I love Edward too… I just don't know if we can come back from this. I thought he trusted me…" I stopped trying to explain. Words just didn't exist to describe what I was feeling.

I heard a car start, and looked up to see the soft glow of headlights cutting a path across the lawn. I looked up at Carlisle who smiled at me, softly, despite the sadness in his warm golden eyes.

"Esme is starting the car and getting it warm for you," he said, "If it is time you need, then you can take all the time that you want. We are your family, Bella. And, we will love and support you, no matter what decisions you should choose."

"There's a hotel that we know of, on the edge of town," Alice chimed in, from the balcony. "The rooms are to die for! We could have the coolest sleep-overs!"

"But, I still need to get my things together," I said, and was surprised as Emmett strolled up to me carrying my backpack and a couple of large duffel bags.

"Already on it," he said, with a wink, "Although, you might have to go inside long enough to get dressed… Alice made me leave one outfit in your closet."

"Yes, please do," Rosalie's voice called down to us, "I, for one, have seen enough of your barely-there body, standing around in a practically see-through nightgown, for one evening."

_See through?_

For the first time since I left the house, I took a really good look at the gown I had been wearing. To my horror, she was right. The damp night air had caused the thin fabric to stick to me in ways that did nothing to conceal my figure.

I felt the flush start at my scalp and scald its way down to my toes as I practically flew around the house to get inside.

Even running up the stairs to my room, I felt as if I would burst into flames from embarrassment as I could hear Emmett trying, unsuccessfully, to suppress a chuckle, at my expense, followed by a comment to Rosalie.

"Oh, Babe… That wasn't nice!"


	11. Chapter 10

_A/N: Hey guys... Here's chapter 10. Better late than never, I guess. Special thanks goes out to my sista from anotha mista for helping me get over a stumbling block and for her help in creating a character which you all will soon get to know, quite well. Thanks, again for all the wonderful reviews and I hope you enjoy the chappie!_

_- Morgania_

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Aro sat in his chair, overlooking the underground empire that he and his partners had created for themselves. Cathedral ceilings, marble pillars, intricate inlaid stone and granite walkways, draperies of the finest silk, countless rooms and corridors, anything and everything that they could ever desire. Everything, but the luxury of light.

He grew weary of the shadows. It was, however, a necessity; the only key to the civilized existence of their kind.

Aro had not heard from Carlisle in quite some time, and was growing more and more curious about his little family and their newest member. He was afraid that there was much more to Isabella than even she was aware and, if he was correct, Carlisle would find himself greatly disappointed by the course of action which must be taken. He would most certainly feel that he and his family had been deceived. And, in this particular case, Carlisle would be correct.

In his hands, he held a painting, one of the few in existence that had the fourth of their original number included.

Mathius.

Even from the artist's hand, the differences between this dark haired vampire and the other three were remarkable. As he gazed upon his image, Aro wondered if Mathius had ever stopped to think of all the trouble that his curious desires and extra-curricular activities would create. Somehow, Aro believed that the knowledge would not have changed his decisions much.

Mathius did not share their beliefs, nor did he respect their desire for secrecy. Aro, along with Caius and Marcus had spent endless hours trying to reason with him, but to no avail. For all of his charm and intelligence, he was equally hard-headed and strong willed.

It was a pity that they had to destroy him.

This line of thinking brought him right back around to the situation at hand. Caius had been harassing him about the Cullen situation for several weeks now. And, Aro had to admit that the time had come to find out if they had kept to their word and turned the girl. They needed to know if she was, indeed, the one…

Setting the painting aside, he looked up in time to see a tall gentleman entering the hall from the northern corridor.

"Valentino," he greeted him. "What a pleasant surprise. Have you finished with your paintings?"

Valentino had been part of their number for a little over 50 years. He was one of the few members who had sought them out, on his own, asking to be allowed the privilege of putting his talents on display in order to request admission into the Volturis' service.

He had an unusual talent that Aro found most delightful. He was a blood-letter. He could cause any creature that crossed his path bleed to death within seconds. Or, if he chose, he could draw it out as long as he wished. The most curious thing about this ability, however, was that it did not only apply to humans or animals, but to vampires as well.

Aro would never have believed this claim, had he not seen it, before his very eyes. After all, vampires had no circulation. The only blood in their veins was that from which they had taken from their victims. But, Aro had been intrigued and had offered Valentino the opportunity to prove himself, requesting an officer of the guard to stand before him.

The counsel was shocked; some were even horrified, as they bore witness to the tears of blood that poured from the officers eyes. Aro was thrilled. _Oh, the many ways this talent could be used, especially in battle,_ Aro had thought. _Why, the smell alone would drive any vampiric opponents to distraction!_ Valentino's acceptance was sealed.

As time went on, Aro learned that Valentino possessed many other useful skills as well.

He was an excellent communicator. He could mingle, easily, with any association. He had proven himself on many occasions to be a skilled mediator. He was intelligent, cultured, artistically gifted and had an exceptional eye for detail. There was not a single room or hall that did not have his magical touch applied to it, in some form or another. He was also rather eccentric, however, and often chose to skip meals in favor of finding things on his own. Not always of the human variety, Aro suspected, judging by odd color of his eyes. But, he was willing to allow him this abnormality in exchange for the servitude.

"Not as yet, I'm afraid," Valentino replied, coming to stand within arm's reach of Aro's chair. "But, it should all come together in good time, I am sure."

"Well, of that, I am certain," Aro smiled and nodded his agreement. "What with your skill and imagination behind it, I am sure it will be an outstanding piece."

Valentino acknowledged Aro's compliment with a courteous nod. "Thank you, sir, you are too kind."

It was at this moment that a thought occurred to Aro. _Who better to send to oversee things than Valentino? _ The Cullens had never met him, before and Carlisle was always charitable to others to the point of gullibility. They would have no reason to suspect that he was a mole as long as he was mindful of his thoughts whenever Edward was present. The only problem would be the little seer. However, time had proven that she was not incapable of missing a thing or two.

_Yes, this will be perfect,_ he thought. They could obtain their information from afar and be prepared for whatever course that should be taken. Hopefully, all would be well and they could simply make their appearance to give their blessings to the new couple along with another offer for them to come to Volterra, of course.

"Valentino," Aro addressed him, seriously, "I have a mission for you."

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Bella

Alice had come down to join Esme, Carlisle and myself and we drove in silence, most of the way to the hotel. Well… Esme, Carlisle and I were silent. Alice chatted quite a bit about the place we were headed to, gushing on and on about how she had already called an booked my stay in what she described as _the most adorable suite _and how much I was going to love it there, and so on.

Although I was appreciative of her obvious efforts to lift my spirits, I really didn't feel like having them lifted. This was one of those times when I just wanted to let myself wallow.

We were in the Guardian, the garish monstrosity that Edward had insisted on buying for me. Just the name of the car alone was enough to make me want to vomit, right now. _Guardian… Is that what Edward really thought he was doing? Guarding me? Oh, wait. That's right, he was. Guarding me for himself._

When, at last, we reached our destination, I found myself reluctant to open to door.

This was a huge leap for me to take. The only other time I had been separated from Edward since the beginnings of our relationship had been when he had left me. I realized, even as I thought this that my arm had been creeping around my middle, in preparation for the old familiar pain to return the second I stepped out of the car.

"It's going to be okay, Bella," Alice's voice chimed, softly from the back seat. I felt her cool hand come to rest on my shoulder as she continued to talk. "This is only for as long or as little as you need. And, I'll come over and visit you. It will be like old times, you know?"

I tried to smile and unwound my arm from about myself, reaching instead, to put my hand over hers. "I know," I said, "I know… But, I'm scared."

"Don't be scared," she told me. "You just take the time that you need, and we'll handle the rest, okay?"

I nodded as I slowly opened the door and stepped out.

Upon entering the hotel lobby I was amazed at how beautiful it was. It didn't look much different than any other hotel, on the outside, but the inside was gorgeous. The floors were polished Italian marble with great pillars rising from the corners to the ceiling. The lighting inside came from several crystal chandeliers and gave off a soft, amber glow, unlike the harsh fluorescents that one would usually encounter in such a place. The check in counter was a rich mahogany which was also topped with marble that matched the floors. The walls were covered in various pieces of beautiful artwork that looked authentic. I am an art connoisseur, by no means, but these sure weren't the poster prints I was used to seeing.

I confess that I was so caught up in looking at the surroundings that I didn't even pay attention to Carlisle checking me in. Alice led me by the arm as I walked in a daze to the room that was to be my new home for who only knows how long.

It wasn't until we stopped in front of the door that I realized the gentleman at the check in counter was with us. He was a large, serous looking, broad shouldered man with warm, dark eyes that were in stark contrast compared to his, otherwise intimidating, stature. He opened the door, swinging it wide before gently placing the key – an actual key, not a coded card - into my hand, with a smile.

I thought that the lobby was beautiful, but words could not even describe my suite. It was more like a luxuriously furnished, Italian villa than a hotel room. Alice rushed past me while I stood there in awe, dancing from room to room and squealing with girlish excitement.

"I do hope that you enjoy your stay here, miss," The gentleman said to me, from the doorway. "My name is Adolfo. If you should need anything, you need only to ask. Goodnight."

"Thank you," I said, my voice came out in a whisper. Adolfo merely smiled and closed the door as he left.

Esme wrapped her arm around my shoulders and whispered conspiratorially to me, "Adolfo is actually the owner of this hotel. Most of the furnishings are imported from Europe. Apparently, he has a cousin who finds incredible deals for him. Do you like it?" she asked, looking about the room.

"I love it," I answered, sincerely. "But, this is… it's too much. You didn't need to go to this sort of trouble for me."

"Don't be silly, Silly!" Alice skipped back to my side her eyes were positively glowing. "This is perfect! Oh, Bella… Bella, were going to have so much _fun_ here! If anything can cheer a girl up, it would be something like this! _I_ want to live here!"

"Alright now, Alice," Carlisle spoke up, from the doorway, I'm sure there's plenty of time for you to talk Bella's ear off about room décor and such, another night. I'm fairly sure she could use some rest, now."

"Yes, he's right," Esme chimed in. "I think it's time to go." Esme hugged me close and kissed me on my cheek before releasing me to take Alice's hand, leading her back toward the door.

_This is it_, I thought. They were 10 feet away from me and already, the separation was starting to set in.

"I am so sorry that all this has happened, Bella," she said." I want you to know that we are ready to stand behind you for whatever you need, whatever you decide."

I tried to swallow the huge lump that was forming in my throat, but said nothing.

"She wrung her hands, and stood in the, now, open doorway and added, "We are leaving the car. It's yours, and you need to have a way to get around, after all. The cupboards and refrigerator should be stocked with basic items, but you can order specific things in the morning. There is a service that will deliver whatever you need, if you don't feel like going out."

She paused again, and I could tell that she hated leaving me here as much as I hated being separated from them.

"I made sure to put your cell phone in your bag. You will call us, soon, right?"

"Yes, Esme," I agreed. "Of course I will."

"Okay," she said, although she still looked uncertain. "We love you, Bella."

"I love you guys too." It was getting harder to control the waterworks, now.

"Okay," she repeated. I could tell, by the way she was leaning out the door that someone, probably Carlisle, was pulling her by the arm. "Okay, goodnight, Bella."

"Goodnight," I replied, as the door swung, slowly closed.

I bit my lip and tried to hold back the tears that wanted to come, for what felt like the hundredth time, this evening and shuffled over to the massive bed, pulled back the blankets and crawled inside. I really needed to change clothes, and take a shower, but frankly, I just didn't have to will to bother with it.

For the first time in what seemed like forever, I was completely and utterly alone.

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_A/N: Psst... if anyone is interested in sneak peaks for the upcoming chapters, they will be posted on the forum at Twilighted . Net_


	12. Chapter 11

_A/N: And, finally we have a Jacob chapter for all those who have been wondering what's going on in his head. Hope you guys like it. Please let me know what ya think. :)_

_Thanks goes out, as always, to my reviewers. You guys are great. _

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Jacob

I felt as if my heart and soul had leapt out of my body and fled right along with her, as she sprinted away and out of my sight, leaving nothing behind but the stirring of leaves and that beautiful scent that was so uniquely hers.

From behind me, in the darkness, the pack began to howl.

At last, it had finally happened. I had lost my mind.

_Bella!_

Seth's voice was the first recognizable sound I heard as the bubble I had been in virtually popped. It rang through my head like an alarm clock.

_Jake! That was Bella! She's alive!_

The rest of the pack was talking now, all at once. Softly at first, but rising in volume by the second. Questions, exclamations of shock, confusion… It was like having an unorganized event taking place in my head.

_No._

My answer went un-heard, drowning underneath the sea of voices.

_Dude, Quil said, Seth… Are you sure? I mean, she was so fast…_

_It isn't Bella._

I spoke louder this time, but no one was listening.

_That was vampire girl, alright! _Embry answered. P_lain as day! And, if I'm not mistaken, it kind of felt to me like…_

_Stop it. _

_Oh, I know! I felt it too!_ Seth all but shouted in excitement.

Seth was the only one here who sounded thrilled, rather than confused or upset. But then, he was also the only one of us who thought fighting on the same side with vampires was cool.

_Yeah, I think he did._ Embry's voice came through, again. _There's no way to mistake that feeling, once you've gone through it yourse-_

_I said, STOP IT!_

Whirling around to face them, I could feel every hair on my body bristling and a voice came out of me that sounded dreadful, even to my own ears. I had never ever felt the desire to use an Alpha voice. I had hated the feeling of helplessness that would come over me when Sam would use it. But, they just. Wouldn't. Stop.

They were all huddled together, with ears back and heads low looking back at me with sullen and almost fearful eyes. The last thing I heard being mumbled came from Embry.

_Dude… That's so not cool._

I didn't dare dignify that with a response, choosing instead to glare at him while I fought to get my breathing under control. Although I know it had only been seconds, it felt like hours went by before I had gathered myself enough to say anything else and when I did, the Alpha voice had been replaced with something else; something angry and broken.

_Don't any of you say that. Ever. It isn't real. I didn't… It isn't… her._

_But… Jake, _Seth sounded hurt and confused. _Jake, who else could she be? I mean… We all saw her. We were right behind you, and then it was like you were somehow telling us to stay back, so we did… But, we still saw her. We could smell her, even… And then you-_

_No. I did not. Imprint. On. That. Thing!_

_Well, that's what it felt like to me,_ Quil interjected.

There was no smugness in his tone, but it angered me, just the same. This was not something that I wanted to hear, and I thought I had made that pretty clear, by that point. _This can't be happening_. _That couldn't have been her. Bella's dead. She has to be dead,_ I thought, and closed my eyes and tried to convince myself that it was all just a bad dream. I could feel my last little thread of sanity threatening to snap.

Obviously, having heard my thoughts, Seth, innocently, must have thought I was still a willing participant of this conversation and asked, _Why?_

And that was all it took to break me.

_Because she is! She has to be dead because if she's alive, it means that she LIED to me! Don't you understand that! Bella wouldn't lie to me!_

Unfortunately, my own words weren't any more convincing to me than they were to my friends and as I fumed, I could see their looks of worry turning into something closer to pity which did nothing to ease my anguish.

Why wouldn't she lie to me? She had what she wanted. She had who she wanted. What was I to her, other than a noose around her neck? But, it didn't make sense to me. It had been nearly a year since she had gone. And, I could still hear her heart beating… She hadn't been turned. And, imprinting? I had known Bella for years! I'd loved her, yes. But, I had never imprinted on her. As much As I hated the idea of imprinting, I used to secretly wish that I would just so that she would finally look at me and see me the way I saw her. But, it never happened. There was absolutely no reason that it should happen now. It had to be wrong. It had to be a fluke… Nothing more than a trick of my own sick, demented, twisted, love-sick mind.

But, then… Why was it that I still felt spread thin? As if I were connected by some invisible cable that pulled and tugged at me, even as I argued with myself?

I shook my head, remembering, for the second time this evening, that my thoughts were not alone and began to back away from them, shifting, smoothly back into my human form, wanting nothing more than to be far away from their staring eyes and pitiful dubious thoughts that whispered and ranted through my head.

I quickly untied the cord from around my leg, and stepped into my sweats, before turning my back on the rest of the pack and heading back toward home.

"Don't follow me," I called back to them, and to their credit they didn't.

Without the aid of four legs, it took me much longer to get back to the house than usual, but tonight, I didn't mind. In fact, I was grateful for the opportunity to pull myself together. The last thing I wanted to do was go into the bawling like some big ol' baby and babbling about imprint- er… NOT imprinting on living dead girls. Dad would think it was time to have me committed.

It took me a little over an hour, between walking and running to make it back to my place, and although I was still upset, at least I had worked up enough of a sweat that I hoped Dad wouldn't take much notice. Usually, if he was still up when I got back from patrol, he would take one look at me and say something like, "I hope you plan on taking a shower before you crawl into that sty that you call a room."

Being Alpha of a pack of protectors and 18 years of age doesn't really count for much when you still live at home, with your father.

As I approached the yard, however, it didn't look as though tonight was going to be one of those nights. Billy wasn't in bed, or inside watching late-night T.V. His chair was parked on the front porch. He eyed me with a sober expression as I made my way toward the house and as I climbed the steps to the porch, he put his hand out to stop me, before I made it inside.

He didn't say anything, right away. He just stared at me with this expression that made me uncomfortable. I wanted to look anywhere else, but I knew that wasn't really an option. But, it felt like he could see right through me. His eyes softened, and looked sad.

"Son," he said, "you stink."

That's my dad. He really should start writing for Hallmark.

"Thanks, Dad," I answered, "I'll just go take a shower and go to bed."

Billy didn't take his arm down, however. He shook his head at me and waited until I stepped back, before he spoke again.

"Son, I don't know exactly how you are going to take this, but Sam's waiting to talk to you, inside-"

"Sam? Why is Sam here? And, why would Sam's being here upset me, anyway?"

"Well, if you'd slow down and let me finish, I was getting to that!"

"Sorry." Interrupting him probably wasn't the best way to get this evening behind me, quickly.

My dad took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He looked away from me, then and spoke as though he was talking to the night air.

"He says it has something to do with Bella."

The pain that I had been struggling with all the way home came back, sharp as a knife, and I gritted my teeth against it.

_Was this ever going to end?_

Turning and studying my face, once more, he said, "You've seen her, haven't you?"

"I'm going to go on inside and talk to Sam," was my only reply. He must have read my response as a yes, judging by the way he nodded his head, but he let his arm down and didn't say anything else, as I made my way through our front door.

Sam was waiting for me, on the couch. His eyes were serious, and I could tell that he knew just as well as my father did that something was already wrong with me.

"So, let's hear it," I said. There was no point in trying to play nice and be conversational. I just didn't have it in me.

"I got a call, this evening, Jake," he said. "It was from Carlisle. He said that he wanted to talk with me, since I was the Alpha, about something involving one of his own and a mis-communication, to put it mildly, involving Bella."

I watched, silently as he looked me over. It was as if he was waiting for some kind of reaction. After receiving none, he continued, slowly.

"He said that she was alive. And, that he wanted to make it clear that he had no prior knowledge about the lie that had been implied, to you, that she had died. He said he wanted to clear the air and be sure that there would be no hostility between us, over the issue, since he wasn't involved."

_So it was her_, I thought. I think I preferred it when I thought I was crazy. The thought of Bella, deceiving me, ripped through my heart like a thousand dull razors.

"And, what did you say?" I asked. My jaw was beginning to hurt from clenching my teeth so hard.

"I told him that he would have to meet with you, for that answer, since you were the one that was lied to. And, also, since I was no longer your Alpha. I said that he would have to take it up with you and your pack."

"Great," I said, although great was nowhere near how I actually felt.

"When do we meet?"

* * *

Previews of future chapters will still be up at the Twilighted forum.


	13. Chapter 12

_A/N: Hey, guys. Sorry this took me so long to put up. I was delayed, and it was KILLING me because the chapter has been ready for nearly a week. Tell you what, though... If you guys leave me lots of reviews, I'll have Chapter 13 to post for you all, as well, before the day is out. _

_Thanks guys! Hope you enjoy the chapter._

_

* * *

_

Bella

I woke to the late morning sun streaming through the gap in the heavy curtains and wondered, for the briefest of moments, where I was, until a well-timed knock at the door, followed by the announcement of room service, jogged my memory.

_I didn't call for room service,_ I thought dismally. But then, I had never stayed in a place, quite like this, before. For all I knew, this could be the norm.

Yawning, I rolled myself out of the big bed, and made my way to the door as the person on the other side, softly, knocked again.

I opened the door to reveal a young man with wavy blonde hair, holding a silver tray in his hands. He seemed to give my appearance a once-over before smiling, shyly. I knew that I must have looked like a complete mess. "Compliments to the lady," he said, offering me the tray and placing it, securely, in my hands before he released it. He seemed to pause for a second, and then nodded and walked, briskly away, down the long corridor.

"Um… Thank you," I called out to him, though my voice cracked and came out in a raspy whisper. I'm not even sure that he heard me.

Stepping back, I allowed the door to swing, gently, closed and was on my way to the table before I understood what the young man must have been waiting for.

_I didn't leave him a tip, _I thought. _That's customary, right? Oh, he must think that I'm horribly rude!_

I had only just opened my eyes, and already, I had managed to mess something up. I decided that I would have to find him, later, and give him something for his trouble. _Or, would that look even worse?_ _Maybe a tip is something that could be left at the front desk? _I realized that I couldn't do that either, because I didn't even bother to check his name-tag. And, even if I had, I wasn't even sure what an appropriate tip was supposed to be.

I suddenly realized that, although I had always taken care of things for Renee, growing up and had fallen right into the home-maker role, when I had moved in with Charlie, I had never, ever been on my own before and had no idea what I was doing.

If I couldn't even handle something as simple as giving a tip, I was really in trouble. And, if I wasn't scared before this, I certainly was now. If I was going to be here for a while, I knew that there were a lot of things that I would have to learn.

Setting the tray on the table, I sat down in a chair and opened the lid to find a wonderful breakfast, there, complete with an omelet, bacon, a croissant, fruit and orange juice. I was amazed that the boy had been able to carry the tray so far, without spilling even one drop of the juice, since it was in an actual glass. In fact, I was shocked that I hadn't spilled it, myself, just on the way to the table, since I had no idea that it was even there!

Upon lifting the glass, however, I learned the secret. The tray had a little holder, just the right size for the glass, built in. This, I thought, was pretty clever. Not only was it beautiful, but It was klutz-proof, too!

Setting down the glass, I picked up the napkin and noticed that there was a folded piece of paper underneath, with my name written on it. I set the napkin aside and opened the paper and began to read.

_My dearest Bella,_

_We assumed, after last night's events, that you would be sleeping in and so I took the privilege of pre-ordering a late breakfast for you, before we departed. I do hope that this finds you awake and well. _

_I can only imagine how difficult this situation must be for you. You are so young, even by human standards, and family drama is painful to endure, even for the most experienced of us._

_I know that you have been missing your father and, though I understand why you chose not to go and see him, after Edward's confession to you, I hope that it will comfort you to know that I plan to set things right, with your friend._

_Please know that you need not be afraid. You are loved and, therefore, are never alone._

_Much love,_

_**~ Carlisle**_

_P.S. Alice wants me to tell you that a five dollar tip is customary, but that you need not worry about it, today, because we have left it for your server, at the desk and that he just hasn't realized it, yet, because he is new. For future reference, the gentleman's name is Leo._

p

Underneath Carlisle's neat handwriting, there was an additional note, written in Alice's curly script, which read:

Dry your eyes, and eat your breakfast, before it gets cold! Call me, as soon as you are ready for a sleep-over! XOXO

- Alice

Folding the paper and setting it aside, I was in fact, having to wipe a tear from the corner of my eye. Alice really had me pegged. Of course, it didn't necessarily take a psychic to know that I would most likely be crying! At least, this time, they were happy tears.

It did feel nice to know, despite what was happening that I was loved.

As I began eating, I thought about what Carlisle had said and wondered what, exactly, he planned to do about Jacob. I wasn't entirely sure that there was anything that Carlisle could say to sway Jacob's opinion of me, if my fears were correct. And, I hated the idea of him going through so much trouble, on my account. It wasn't his responsibility to try and mend things that had had not broken, and I hoped that there would not be trouble between my family and the pack, over Edward's deception.

But, at least since the news was going to be out, anyway, I could go and visit my father soon, without worry that the news of my appearance would come as a shock to anyone. I decided that I would call him, today.

I wasn't ready to let Charlie know that Edward and I were having any problems, however. This was going to be tricky, because even though I have had to cover up a lot of things during the past few years, I am still a terrible liar.

After my shower, I picked my bracelet up from where I had placed it on the sink counter, intending to put it back on, when a thought occurred to me that caused me to pause.

Lifting it high, I watched as the diamond swayed back and forth from its ring, catching and reflecting the light and found myself wondering if it really belonged there. The bracelet had been given to me by Jacob and, although it had many little rings attached for the purpose of adding additional charms, the diamond just didn't seem to fit. Suddenly, the sight of it, swinging there, overshadowing the wolf bothered me. It was just too flashy.

I realized, with a grimace, that that was most likely why Edward had put it there, in the first place. It was just one more thing to make him stand out, in my mind, over anyone and anything else in the world and, over one specific person, in particular. It upset me to think that Edward thought so little of me as to think that he needed to do these things to hold my interest. I wished that my word had been enough.

I decided, then and there, that no matter what my decision would be, concerning my marriage to Edward, that the diamond had no place on the bracelet, at all. If I were ever to wear it again, it would be attached to something else.

My mind made up, I unfastened it from the charm ring and tucked it, safely away, in a little box in one of the dressers, before putting the bracelet back on my wrist.

My arm felt lighter, already. I never was much of a bling girl, to begin with.

Finally, dressed and more presentable, I spent the rest of my day familiarizing myself with the hotel.

I was surprised to learn that Adolfo not only owned the hotel, but also lived on-site in a large suite and ran the lounge that was inside. He told me that the way he saw it, the hotel was his home, and the people who stayed there were not merely a source of income, but personal guests to which he felt obliged to accommodate with utmost hospitality. In my personal opinion, I would say that he lived up to that goal exceptionally well, because he made to rush about showing me around, and talked to me as easily as if I were family.

I was shocked, when I got back to my room and looked at the clock, to realize that several hours had gone by. Adolfo had never once made any indication of how much of his time I had taken. He really was one of the nicest people I had met in a long time.

Even though I was still kind of scared, being in such good company had me feeling a little bolder and I decided to give Charlie a call before I lost my nerve, again.

After dialing the number, I sat down on the bed, counted the rings and thought about how I hadn't heard his voice in a long time. After 7 rings, I was just about to hang up when he answered.

"Hello?"

I forced myself to smile, hoping that he would hear it in my voice, in order to hide my nervousness.

"Hi, Dad…"

"Bella? Bella, is it really you?"

"Yeah, Dad. It's really me. I'm sorry I haven't called until now, I just… Well, I just got here… I was thinking… Well, actually I was wondering if I could come by tomorrow?"

* * *

Jacob

The arrangement was to meet at the treaty line at 11:00 pm, the following evening.

Even though Sam had told Carlisle that I was the one who he needed to speak with, I decided to ask the other pack to come along as well, something that Sam was more than happy to agree to. Between the two packs, our numbers were, now, very impressive and, since his pack was the larger of the two, he was eager to have the opportunity to show it off. "Just in case," he said, "The Cullens ever think about going off of their _diet_."

When the time arrived, Sam was quite pleased with the expression on Carlisle's face as we came over the ridge into view. He made no effort to conceal his surprise at how many of us had appeared.

I noticed that Carlisle was with his family behind him. But there was no sign of Bella, or Edward. To be honest, that didn't come as a shock. I kind of figured that they wouldn't show.

I stayed back in order to phase and get dressed, while the rest of the group went to take their places on the other side of the line, waiting until they were all settled before I walked through and took my stand directly, in front.

"Jacob," Carlisle addressed me, with a nod.

"Carlisle," I responded, in turn. His courteous, manner annoyed me.

"You've certainly come up in the world, since we last met," he said.

_Was he kidding me? Did he honestly think that I wanted to stand around and exchange pleasantries?_

"No offense, but I didn't come out here for you to blow smoke up my ass," I snapped. "I came because I hear you have something to tell me about Bella."

He looked a bit disappointed, but for his part, only nodded and said, "Yes, that is exactly why I have called you here. You see, it has only recently come to my attention that you were led to believe that Bella had died, during the battle of the newborns."

"Uh –huh… you expect me to believe, with all that I know about your close-knit little group, which happens to include a seer, that you had no idea about that, until now?"

"I was… distracted!" The little one broke in, suddenly, and then looked at her feet.

Carlisle gave her a sympathetic look and then turned his attention back to me, saying, "I understand how you might feel that way, but if you think about it, Jacob… What reason would I have to lie to you about such a thing? Would it not be easier for everyone, if what you have assumed were true, for us to not say anything else, at all?"

I stared into the vampire's, strangely colored eyes, and honestly couldn't find any deception in them. But, I wasn't ready to trust him, just yet. After all, the last time I had trusted one of them, against my better judgment, they had used that trust to emotionally, gut me.

"Maybe, because," I drew my words out, slowly, "you know that I've already seen her."

A look of genuine surprised crossed the older vampire's face, followed by some like-wise surprised grumbles and whines from the peanut gallery which consisted of my pack who had, just yesterday, listened to me deny Bella's existence to their face.

"You did?" He asked, incredulously.

"I sure did. We all did. Well, my pack and I. She was in the woods."

"I had no idea," Carlisle said. And, once again, I could find no dishonesty in his expression.

"So, if she didn't see me and send you to cover up for her, then why is she and her bloodsucking husband absent from our little get-together?"

The big vampire, Emmett, snarled at me, from behind Carlisle and the packs bristled and answered with growls of their own.

"Is that what you believe, Jacob?" Carlisle asked, his brow wrinkled as though saddened, "That Bella, herself, led you to believe that she was dead?"

"I believe that the miserable creature that you claim as a son led me to that belief," I answered. "But, Bella didn't let me know, otherwise."

"Jacob, Bella didn't-"

Alice started to say something, but I had tired of this conversation. There was only one obvious reason for it, and I wanted it to be over.

"Listen, I've had enough of this. As much as I would really like to say otherwise, no treaty has been broken. You and your family have nothing to worry about from us, as long as it remains that way. But, you can tell Edward that we will be watching for him. I have no reason to trust his word about anything, including his choices on the menu. I'd trust one of those newborn vamps that we helped slaughter, over him! At least when they tried to kill us, they came at us, head on."

"I wish it were otherwise, "Carlisle sighed, "But, given the circumstances, I understand your position. However, I do not know when I will be able to pass the message along to him."

I folded my arms across my chest and raised an eyebrow, while I waited for him to continue.

"You see, he left, last night and has not yet returned home."

"Then, hope that I do not come across him, on neutral territory, before he does," I warned. "Treaty, or no treaty, my beef with Edward is personal."

Receiving no response, I turned away from him and walked back into the woods with the rest of the wolves following behind me.

One by one, we went our separate ways as we approached home. I was invited to a late-night bon-fire on the beach that the guys were throwing, but I declined. I had a lot to think about.

Carlisle had mentioned that Edward was gone, but did that mean that he had left Bella behind? And, if so, where was she? I wondered if all this had something to do with why I had found her running through the woods, in the first place. It would make sense. In the past, Bella always wound up running around, lost, in the wilderness, pining over him. The thought of her, still groveling at his feet, sickened me. But, I had no right to expect anything different.

_Why couldn't she see that she shouldn't have to do that? Even if she never chose me, she could have chosen herself…_

This line of thinking wasn't going to get me anywhere. I wanted to be angry. Had Bella really thought so little of our friendship that she allowed me to believe that she was dead? And, if so, did she know what that would do to me? Or, did she think I would just go on as if life were peachy? Couldn't she have just told me, to my face, that she wanted me to get lost, instead?

I wanted answers. And I didn't want them from Carlisle or the rest of his clan. I wanted them from Bella. After what I had been through, I felt she owed me that much. She owed me the truth.

And, I was going to get it.

* * *

_Next Day…_

Bella

Visiting with my dad had been wonderful.

I was relieved, in fact, to find that I didn't have to explain much to him, at all. He took the story of our traveling as fact and didn't say much about it, other than to ask me if I was happy.

Well, one little lie was better than the number of them that I thought I would have to produce.

I got to make him dinner and found that I really missed that. It was nice to have someone to cook for. At home, I was always eating solo and it took a lot of the joy out of cooking. In fact, just the fact that I could sit down and eat _with_ someone was incredibly nice!

As usual, we didn't talk a lot. He shared some stories Billy and their fishing trips and how he really worried about Jacob, who seemed intent on staying on the reservation to take care of his father, rather than trying to get out in the world and find a career, elsewhere.

How could I tell him that it wasn't just Billy that Jacob hung around for, or that Jacob already had a career? It didn't pay anything, but it was one that involved watching over the lives of even the town's Chief of Police?

The answer, of course, was that I couldn't. So I just listened, nodding and frowning at the appropriate moments.

The evening went by too quickly and before I knew it, it had gotten quite late and so, for the sake of keeping up appearances, I had to tell Charlie that it was time for me to go home.

As he walked me out to the driveway, he had asked me what I planned to do with my old truck, which was still sitting there.

I know that it probably seems silly to miss an old truck, when I had a brand new car, but I really, really did. I asked him if it still ran, to which he responded by handing me the keys. My excitement must have been written all over my face because he looked at me, strangely, when I scrambled inside and turned the key.

As the truck sputtered and then roared to life, I sat back, relishing the nostalgia when an idea occurred to me.

Charlie never spent money on himself. At least, nothing more than what was absolutely necessary. He had never owned a new car since I had been born.

I was going to give him the Guardian.

If I thought he had looked at me, strangely before, it was nothing compared to how he looked at me, when I told him that the car was his.

He argued with me, at first, telling me that he wasn't about to take my beautiful, dependable car and leave me driving around my old clunker of a truck, instead. But, I insisted that I wanted him to have it. I was married to a rich man. I could go out and buy another car, today, if I wanted to. But, that this car was his and I wasn't going to take it, no matter what he said…

So, here I was, backing my beloved truck down the driveway and into the street in front of Charlie's house, waving goodbye to him, along with that horrid spectacle of a car.

As I followed the roads that led out of the main part of town, I allowed myself to think about how I got to this point in my life.

Nearly three short years ago, I had arrived in Forks expecting nothing but misery. I detested the wind and the rain and mourned the loss of the sun and the heat, before I even set foot on the plane. My plan was to stay here just long enough to finish high-school and then catch my first ticket out of here, toward college.

I thought that I knew myself, so well. I was smart, but plain. Simple, but perfectly capable of handling anything that life had to throw at me. Marriage was something that I most certainly never aimed for, in life. In fact, I had never even had a boyfriend, before.

Little did I realize that what I would find, in this place, was that the world was nothing at all like I believed it to be.

There really were things that went bump in the night and those things were drawn to me as if I were a magnet. I also learned that I was equally drawn to them, as well.

I went from being the girl who had never been on a date, to the girl who was dating a vampire, to the girl who was left by a vampire and hanging out with werewolves, to the girl who got married to the vampire when he returned and had left the werewolves, and her human life, behind to become a vampire, to the girl who could not become a vampire but would never be just a simple, human girl, again.

And, I realized, for the first time in my life, that I had no idea who or what I was, anymore.

Maybe, I never really knew who I was to begin with.

Before long, I found myself chugging along on the winding roads that carried me back toward the hotel, on the outskirts of town_. I really should have left sooner_, I thought. The fog was beginning to roll in, and I shivered as the cool, wet mist blew through the cab of the truck.

I cranked my window all the way up and glanced down, just for a second, to turn on the heater and looking back through the windshield, noticed that visibility had decreased significantly. I could no longer see more than twenty feet ahead so I lifted my foot off of the gas pedal and turned on the high-beams. I didn't realize that doing so would actually make the situation worse, as the lights reflected off of the thick, white mass I had driven into, temporarily, blinding me.

Quickly, turning off the brights and peering through the accumulated moisture on the windshield, I spotted what appeared to be something large, in the middle of the road, directly in my path.

Instinctively, I slammed my foot down on the brake. I hadn't been driving very fast, but the roads had been slickened by the damp fog, causing the tires to lock up. A loud screeching filled the air like a death siren. To my horror, I realized that I had no control, whatsoever, as the truck continued to slide, downhill.

_Oh my God, I'm going to hit it!_ I thought, gripping the steering wheel, tightly, with both hands and squeezing my eyes shut, preparing for the terrible impact that was to come.

I had no sooner finished this thought, before the truck collided with the entity, bringing me to an abrupt halt, stalling the engine and lifting the rear end up into the air; something that I failed to notice, until the wheels came back to the ground with a crash, followed by a violent quaking. The inside of the cab creaked and rumbled along with the vibrations.

A few seconds passed before I finally regained my wits and released the breath that I had been holding and got the nerve to open my eyes and noticed a dark wetness upon the steering wheel. Lifting my head, I could feel a small trickle of warmth on my forehead, which was quickly cooled by the night air which was seeping through the failed weather stripping around the driver's, side door. Wiping the blood away, I turned my attention to the front of the vehicle, to see what I had hit.

I looked out the windshield as the fog seemed to clear; swirling in wispy tendrils through the yellow glow of the headlights. What I saw in between those lights caused me to lose my breath, altogether.

The figure towered, looming over the front of the truck. Dark eyes stared, menacingly, into mine, through curtains of long, damp, windblown hair. His long, well muscled arms were flexed and extended in front of him, leading down to incredibly large hands; hands that were obviously the cause of the slight tremor that I could still feel through the body of the truck, as they gripped, literally, into the front of the hood.

"Hey, Bells," he greeted me; his voice was a mockery of the sweet, husky tone, I was once so familiar with.

This wasn't _my_ Jacob at all.


	14. Chapter 13

_A/N: Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews, guys. I want to also thank my hubby who added some flavor to the last chapter. Yeah... The last page had plenty of his input in it. I am truly blessed. :-)_

_And so... since a promise is a promise, and you guys left me love, I give you Chapter 13. Hope you guys enjoy it. _

_

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Bella was terrified.

Never before had she seen Jacob so angry at her. There was something about the way that he was looking at her, with that cold sneer that seemed as if it were frozen in place, like a mask that was deeply unsettling. Not to mention the fact that he had, somehow found her, out in the middle of nowhere and had stopped her truck, by sheer force. When he finally removed his hands from the truck's hood, she could actually see indentations left, from where they had been.

But, that wasn't what frightened her.

It should have been. Somewhere, way back in the recesses of her mind, she knew that she should be trying to think of a way to get away from him. Maybe, if the truck would start, she should try backing it up, turning around and driving off the way that she had come… But, she paid no attention to that line of reasoning.

No. What frightened her was the thought that she may have been the cause of his behavior. That, upon realizing that he had been lied to, Jacob had finally gone over the edge and been driven completely mad, because of her.

Like a moth to a flame, she felt compelled, not to run away, but to get out of the truck and run to him. To tell him that she was sorry… That she didn't know. That she never would have done that to him. She wanted to beg his forgiveness and plead with him to understand that it wasn't her fault… She wanted to take the anger away. She wanted him to be her Jacob, again.

But, that was part of the problem. He had always been her Jacob. But she had never belonged to him, although she allowed him just enough of her to keep him hoping; to keep him trying to fight a losing battle. He had been her sun, and at one point in time, her very reason for getting out of bed, each and every day. It was the very nature of their, too-close, relationship that had brought them to this point.

In truth, this was her fault.

With some hesitancy, Bella rolled down the window, and called to him.

"Jacob?"

He began to walk, slowly, around the front of the truck, toward her side, but said nothing. His eyes were still boring into hers with an intensity that was indescribable. She suddenly wondered, if he might have been hurt. She knew that werewolves were strong, even in their human form, but she had never imagined one stopping a moving vehicle. There was a reason that it took a pack to take down vampires. As strong as the wolves might be, the vampires were still stronger. He didn't appear to be hurt, but what if it only seemed that way because it was dark and she just couldn't see?

Again, despite the hateful look he was giving her, and the obvious volatile manner he had displayed, Bella felt the urge to get out of the truck and was just beginning to open the door, when Jacob quickly side-stepped in front of her, grabbed the window frame over the door and slammed it shut, causing her to shriek in surprise.

He sighed and shook his head at her, his expression changing, briefly, to one of disappointment, as he warned, "I really wouldn't do that, if I were you."

"Recomposing herself, as best as she could, she asked, "Jake, are you okay? Are you hurt?" Her hands came up to the window frame, brushing against his fingers, and she cringed, inwardly, as he quickly pulled his hand away, as if it had been burned by her touch.

"No," he scoffed, dryly; then, looking her over, his eyes softening, for the briefest of moments before returning to their former, cold state. Gesturing toward the injury on her forehead, he added, "But, it looks as though you are. Sorry about that."

Bella looked confused for a moment, before, gingerly, reaching her hand up to touch the tiny gash, near her hairline. In all honesty, she had completely forgotten about it. After all, it wasn't as if she wasn't accident prone, to begin with. It certainly wasn't the worst injury she had ever sustained.

"Oh, that… Yeah," she nodded, "No shoulder belts, in here, you know. It's nothing, really." She didn't know what else to say. Even under these circumstances, where most people would have been angry, she, instead, felt awkward.

"Yeah," Jacob agreed, "I do know. I just wasn't thinking about that, at the time." Then, as if suddenly realizing that he was getting off track, he let out another exasperated sigh and shook his head in frustration.

"Look, Bells… We need to talk."

"I know."

Both were silent for a moment, Jacob staring at Bella, while she turned her eyes away to gaze off at something inconsequential on the far side of the road.

"Did you put Edward up to it?" He asked, finally.

"What?" Bella shook her head, her eyes wide, "No! No, I would never; _never_ do something like that to you!"

"But, you didn't stop him either, you allowed it," he pushed.

"No, I didn't, Jake," Bella's voice was firm, insistent. I didn't even know about it. I didn't find out until a few nights ago!"

Jacob studied her face, as she spoke. So many emotions were rolling through him, that it was all he could do to hold up his stony façade. He was angry, still, but he also felt guilty for scaring and hurting her. He had never been one for tact. It would not have been the first time he had acted out of impulse and made a hasty and foolish decision, but this was going down in his own, personal, record books as one of the worst of them.

There was some part of him that had actually been surprised that she was hurt. It was still inconceivable to him that she hadn't been changed. And, yet, she was different. Even in the dark, at this range, he could see the almost too-perfect sheen of her porcelain skin and the golden gleam in her eyes that would be almost imperceptible to the average person.

_Edward had to have bitten her,_ he thought, _unless she had become this way after Victoria had attacked her._ Maybe the Cullens were unable to remove all of the venom_. Is this what happens if only a small amount of venom gets through?_ There was no reason that he could think of, for her to be so different, otherwise.

But her heart was still beating, the cut on her head was small, but it had bled and, last time he checked, vampires didn't bleed. And, her smell was the same. It was stronger, somehow, sweeter. But, it was still _her._ Obviously, the vamp smell that he had detected, coming off of her, in the woods was due to the fact that she had been with them, or more to the point, with Edward.

Carlisle had told him that Edward had left, but Jacob had assumed that Bella had gone with him. But, even if she hadn't, she still lived with the rest of the bloodsuckers, so why couldn't he smell them, on her?

"I was so hurt," she continued. Her golden flecked, chocolate eyes, glistened, and she looked as if she were going to cry. "When he finally told me… I couldn't believe that he had done that. If I hadn't told him that I wanted to go and visit Charlie and, and you… I may never have known! I was so upset, I couldn't even look at him, and I ran…"

_So, that was why she was out, running around in the woods_, Jacob thought. He folded his arms across his chest, and waited until she was finished. It was starting to make sense to him now. The pieces to her story fit. But, there was still one question that he had for her.

"I assume that you know that Carlisle spoke with me," he stated, to which she nodded, insistently.

"That's not how I came to know you were alive, though," he noted the surprised expression on her face, as he continued, "I saw you, that night, in the woods."

Bella flashed back to that evening and recalled the feeling that she had of someone being out there with her and the outbreak of howls that she had heard as she ran back toward the house.

"That was you?" She asked, incredulously. "I heard wolves, but I didn't think they were _werewolves! _Why didn't you say something?"

Jacob raised an eyebrow, and gave her a side-long look. "Well, I don't know Bells. I guess I was a little surprised to find you running around out there, alive, when as far as I knew you were six feet under the ground."

Bella closed her eyes. She could almost feel the pain which was interlaced with the anger in his voice as he spoke those words.

"What I want to know, Bella, is why I can't smell them on you. I know that Edward left, Carlisle told me, as much-"

Bella's eyes flew open and she interrupted him, sharply. "Edward left?"

Jacob wasn't sure what irritated him more, the fact that she appeared to be alarmed by his statement or the fact that he hadn't put two and two together, already. Of course she wasn't with Edward. This was, in his opinion, Edward's M.O. When the waters got rough, Edward got going. He had just never thought of this because, as much as Jacob disliked Edward, he never imagined that he would be stupid enough to leave her, twice.

"You really didn't know, did you?" He asked her, then. He could feel his guard slipping.

"No," she admitted, "I didn't."

This brought him to his next question. "You aren't staying with them, are you?"

"No," she replied again. This time, he watched as the tear that had been threatening to fall, rolled silently down her cheek. "I'm not."

Jacob found himself nodding, again. There was no use in being angry with her. She was just as much a victim of Edward's game as he had been. But, he wasn't ready to make up and be best buddies with her, again, either. Just her being alive, and right here in front of him, was a lot to take in. He found himself wishing, not for the first time, that he had chosen a different day, as well as a different way to confront her about this. He just didn't realize that he would be able to find her alone.

"I believe you, Bells," he said, at last. "And, I'm sorry… You know, about everything." He gestured toward her minor injury, before sweeping his out, indicating the truck. "It should still run, though," he added, and began backing away. "I've gotta go."

He turned, then, and began walking away from her, heading across the road and toward the trees, ignoring her, resisting the urge to turn back around, as he heard her call his name. He wasn't giving in to her; not now, not this soon. He could tell that regardless of the changes she had undergone, she was still the same Bella he had always known, at heart. Although, a huge part of him was incredibly happy about this fact, it also meant that she was, as always, completely capable of breaking him, and frankly, he had experienced enough heartbreak over the last year to last him a life-time.

_Imprinting be damned_, he thought, and kept walking.

"Jacob!" Bella called to him, again, but he wasn't turning around.

She turned the key and the ignition started, just as Jacob had said that it would, but she couldn't bring herself to leave.

As Jacob disappeared into the trees, on the opposite side of the road, she felt a new kind of panic begin to well up, inside of her. Something she hadn't felt in a long time. And, suddenly, it didn't matter how he had stopped her, how scared she had been of the anger in his face, or even how much she felt that she may have deserved it. It didn't matter that her world had fallen apart, just three short nights ago. The only thing that mattered to her, at that moment was that that regardless of everything that had transpired between them, Jacob was the only person in the world who really knew her. He had been her best friend. And, even if she had never loved him the way that he wanted her to, she loved him, all the same.

And, he was walking away from her, out of her life, forever. She could feel it. The old, familiar hole in her chest was tearing open.

Suddenly, without allowing herself time to rationalize what she was doing, she was out of the truck and running as fast as her feet would carry her, into the trees.

Jacob heard the sound of the old truck's engine as it roared to life and assumed that Bella was on her way to wherever it was that she was living now. So, it came as a surprise when, shortly after, he heard the sound of pounding feet, approaching. He paused to looked over his shoulder, and seeing Bella running after him, he stopped, turning around with the intention of telling her to go back to the truck, only to be caught off guard when she kept her pace, quickly, closing the distance between them and launched herself directly into him with enough force to nearly knock him off of his feet.

Unprepared, his mind, momentarily, shut down and his body betrayed him as his arms, instinctively, closed about her tiny frame. She was all around him. Her arms wound themselves behind his neck, her legs gripping tightly, around his hips, as she clung to him desperately, like a life-line, so close that he could feel her heart hammering against his chest. Her hair was in his face, and for the moment, he was overwhelmed, lost in the smell of her skin, the salt of her tears and the feeling of her body, against his.

"You came back," she whispered into his ear, her voice was panicky, at best. "Edward told me you came back… You can't leave me, now!"

Bella was grasping, her fingers working their way into the hair at the nape of his neck, while he stood there, stunned beyond words and wondering how he had managed to find himself in such a compromising position.

"You still love me," she continued, "I know that you do… You have to, or you wouldn't have been so angry… It wouldn't have mattered to you, what Edwa…" her lips stumbled over the name before she rephrased, " what happened."

Her fingers were in his hair, his senses were awash in her scent, her touch, her voice, the feel of her hair, which fanned out in disarray, over her shoulders… She was everything. She was everywhere, and his eyes closed of their own volition, unconsciously, his hands gripped tighter, his fingers finding their way to the small expanse of bare skin, at the small of her back and when her lips trailed across his jaw, he was vaguely aware of a voice that seemed outside of himself, moan her name.

Bella's lips blazed a trail to his ear, where she ceased her assault, long enough to whisper three words.

"Kiss me, Jacob."

And just before he turned his head and granted her, exactly what she had asked for, an alarm sounded, in his mind. Suddenly, he was ripped from this dream and thrown into another one, a nightmare of another time, another place and the last time that he had heard those words.

"_Kiss me Jacob, Kiss me and then come back."_

And that was all it took to remind him of why he was here, in the first place. And, why he had been in such a hurry to leave.

It had been different, once. He was willing to take any part of her that she would be willing to offer. But that was back when he was fighting to get her to give him a chance, to at least consider him, instead of throwing her life away for a dream of eternal youth, in the arms of the leech. But, that was then, not now. She had made her choice and, just because things didn't turn out the way that she planned didn't make things any different, for him.

She wasn't asking him to kiss her because she wanted him. She was asking him because she didn't want to be alone and she thought it was the only way she could keep him here.

As many times as he had dreamed of this, for as long as he had yearned for her affections, and as much as he had mourned over her loss, he wasn't about to cheapen the value of his emotions by allowing himself to become the re-bound guy, or her personal sun. Experience had taught him well, how easily the fickle moon could come back around, full circle, and eclipse him entirely.

"Oh, God, Bells…"

He turned his face away from hers and repositioned his grip, sliding one of his hands up her side, while the opposite hand settled itself around her thigh. A move, he could tell that Bella misunderstood, when she sighed his name, in response, and struggled to pull herself up, higher.

Jacob did not fail to notice how much stronger Bella had become. He ground his teeth with the effort, as he literally had to use force to pry her body away from his. Shock and confusion were written all over her face, as he quickly, before she could regain her hold, let go, allowing her to drop into a graceless heap upon the forest floor.

"No, Bella," he said, while taking several steps back, "I can't do this."

"Why, Jacob?" she asked, her lower lip trembled and her eyes stared into his, full of hurt and rejection. "Don't you… You don't… Want me?"

Swallowing, thickly, Jacob choked back a humorless laugh. "Oh, Bells… If you only knew. If only, it was that easy! Dragging his fingers through his hair, he added, "Any man who wouldn't _want_ you would be a fool.

Bella shook her head, in obvious disbelief. "If that's true, then, why? Why won't you stay with me?"

Jacob's face wore a pained expression. He began backing away, once more, as he answered her question.

"Because, I love you."

There was no chasing him this time, he made sure of it. As Bella kneeled there, on the ground, Jacob turned and fled from her, phasing, mid-stride and disappearing into the thick, dense woods, leaving nothing but shredded fabric in his wake.

For the second time in her life, Bella found herself abandoned in the woods, with no one but the whispering trees to console her, as she cried.

* * *

_Back at the hotel_

Adolfo was calling it an early night, at the lounge.

This was nothing unusual. Even though the lounge was open to the public, as well as the hotel's guests, it was, after all, a weeknight.

He had just finished putting up all the chairs and was giving the polished, marble bar a few, final sweeps with a bar-towel, when he heard someone enter, from the street.

"Sorry, we're closing for the evening," he called, looking over to meet a pair of eyes he hadn't seen in quite some time.

The gentleman smiled at him, warmly, and replied, "Well, Cous, is the door still open for family?

"You're late," Adolfo replied, with a grin. "I'm not sure I ought to let you in, now! In fact, I'll have to check, but I may have given your room to someone else."

"Oh, pish-posh!" his cousin replied, matching Adolfo's grin with his own, then accenting it with a roll of the eyes, "I know damned good and well that the room is ready, because I have the only key." He held the key up, for display, and then opened his arms. "Do I even get a hug?"

Laughing, Adolfo tossed the towel into the wash basket, and strode across the room to embrace him.

"It is good to see you again," he said. "But, you are late." He locked up the outside door and then the two of them, together, strolled out of the lounge and into the hotel's main lobby.

"Yes, yes," came the reply, "But, you know how it is when you are traveling by sea. A little stop here, a longer stop, there… The culinary arts in some of the towns are extraordinary!"

"Bleh!" Adolfo made a face, "I don't want to know. I'm not fond of your idea of cultural cuisine."

"Oh, come now, Wolfie," his cousin shoved him, well naturedly, on the shoulder. "It isn't like I haven't seen you gobble down some rather interesting things, myself, over the years. To each, their own, I say!"

"Adolfo smiled, again and then motioned for the bell-hop to come and join them. Turning to his cousin, he said, "You know I hate it when you call me that," followed by a question, "Do you have luggage?"

"When do I not, Cousin? It's outside, in the car."

"Yes, of course you always do," Adolfo said, and turned to the Bell-hop, once more.

"Devin, would you be as kind as to collect Valentino's bags and take them to his room?"


	15. Chapter 14

Edward

I waited in front of Charlie's house all night. But, Bella never showed.

When morning came, I drove back home figuring that, surely, she would be there. Where else could she have possibly gone? The only other alternative was unthinkable, to me.

The first thing I noticed, as the garage door slid open was that the Guardian was missing, and I was instantly alarmed.

She had come back, at some point, during the night… And just left?

Pulling into the garage, I exited the car and quickly went inside. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, I was greeted by Rosalie, who stood, silently, with arms folded as she leaned, casually, against the doorframe to her room. The way that she was staring at me was unsettling.

"Boy, when you blow it, you really blow it, don't you?" She asked me.

Ignoring her, I passed her by, heading into my room to find the bed still unmade and the closet doors open wide. It only took a glance for me to notice that most of Bella's clothes were missing.

"She's gone, Edward."

Turning around, I saw that Rosalie had followed me, and was now standing to the side of my door.

"Where?" I asked her, "Where has she gone?"

"You know," Rosalie began, while eyeing her polished fingernails, "I never dreamed I would say this, but if I were Bella, I would have nothing more to do with you. For all her faults, she is, at least, honest."

"Where is she?" I asked, again. I could feel myself beginning to panic. She could not have left me. Not really. I knew I had made a huge mistake, but it could be fixed. I could make it up to her, somehow.

"Bella's taking a break, Eddie," Emmett replied, stepping in and sliding behind Rosalie. "If I were you, I'd leave her alone, for awhile, until she's ready to talk to you. I asked her if she wanted me to break your arm, but she said not to, so you should be thankful."

Why was no one willing to tell me where Bella was? This was ridiculous. I tuned myself in to try and read their thoughts and found Emmett mentally singing "99 bottles of beer on the wall," while Rosalie was, similarly, playing the tune "I feel pretty," in her head. Obviously, the two of them had talked this over, before my arrival and… _Wait a minute_…

"You asked Bella, what?!"

Emmett smiled at me, smugly, and shrugged. This was absolutely unbelievable.

"And you, Rosalie… You, of all people, choose this moment to side against me?"

Just as I began to feel as if I were going to explode, Carlisle stepped into the room and said, "She's at a hotel." Then, turning to Rose and Emmett he added, "Stop harassing your brother."

_Well, this is just great_, I thought_. _Not only had my wife left me, but now my father felt the need to stand in as a referee between Emmett, Rosalie and myself, as though we were children.

I could clearly see, in Carlisle's mind, the hotel she had gone to. The one _they_ had taken her to. The Zona Protetta Suites. I had passed the place, many times but had never given its name much thought, until now. Safe Haven… How sickeningly, appropriate. I could feel the bitterness creeping up inside of me and I wondered, as I scrutinized my family's individual thoughts, if the name had more, or less, to do with my wife's placement there, than the fact that it was on the outskirts of Forks, in neutral territory.

I had made a mistake. Granted, it was a grave one, but I would _never_ harm her!

No matter how upset I was, however, I couldn't deny the fact that I should be grateful. At least Bella had not been out, wandering around by herself, all evening. And, thankfully, she had not run to La Push, into the arms of the mutt, where Alice could not see her, leaving her beyond my protection.

My first instincts were to go to her. I would fall upon my knees, if that is what she wanted, and beg her forgiveness. There was nothing, at this point, that she could demand that I would not try to the best of my ability to grant her. Even if it came at the cost of my own, selfish heart, so long as it meant that I may have the chance to make things right.

But, I realized that there was wisdom in Emmett's words, even though they were spoken with the means of intimidation, rather than in the spirit of helpful advice.

I would leave her alone, for now. I would do my best to stay out of her way, until she was ready to speak to me, again. If I were to go to her now, it might make things even worse. After all, if she wanted to be in my presence, she would never have left in the first place.

If Bella needed time, then she would have it. I had to accept the fact that it was Bella's right to choose our fate. My actions had been deplorable. But, there was no way that I could bear spending a single night in that house without being able to hear my Bella's heartbeat and her soft, peaceful breathing, as she slept.

I decided, right then and there, that it was a good time to go hunting.

Without another word, I walked out the way I had come, through the garage, forcing myself not to turn around when Carlisle called my name and urged me to stay. Averting my eyes, I backed the Volvo out of the garage, and without another look back, I sped off down the street.

I spent the next couple of days hunting. It was, at least, something to keep me occupied, although it did little to ease my mind.

_How could I have let myself do something so irresponsible?_

I really didn't need to ask myself, though. Deep down, I knew.

I was so used to my ability to read the thoughts of others, that not being able to do so, with Bella, was frustrating, to say the least. But, for the first time in my existence, I wished that the talent had never been given to me, at all. Without it, I may never have felt such jealousy; the kind which had driven me to commit such an unforgiveable crime, against my only love.

As I have mentioned, before, it wasn't only the sight of Jacob, holding my love in his arms, which had driven me to such madness. No, it was the combination of what I saw and heard.

Of any mind I have ever known, the mongrel's was the loudest.

Usually, it was intentional. He was quite fond of telling me to get out of his head, as if I could just shut him out, if I chose to. But, frankly, I think he particularly enjoyed the knowledge that I could hear his thoughts. It gave him the power to torment me with them, at will.

Often, he would taunt me, adding comments that he believed to be witty, or clever, after envisioning things that were particularly painful for me.

Once, he even winked.

In my opinion, Jacob Black was an insolent child, who seemed to be incapable of keeping his hands or his thoughts to himself. He goaded me, every chance he got and I found him to be absolutely insufferable!

He would never be content with the fact that she had made her choice. She had married me! Is it not normal for a man to want to keep his wife for himself? Should I be made to suffer silently, while another man parades her around, in his mind, as if she is his for the taking?

But, even I knew that there was no good excuse for my actions, which was why I had hidden them for so long. I knew that, once the truth was revealed, I would find myself on very thin ice with Bella. I had finally chosen to be the one to tell her, in hopes that she would still love me, after the thaw.

Things were different with Jacob, on that fateful evening, however.

Under the circumstances, he was too consumed with his own emotions to be bothered with picking at mine. There were no other voices to be heard in his mind, but his own, which I knew could only mean one thing. He had abandoned his pack.

He blamed himself for the harm that had befallen her. And, although I was already aware of the con he had pulled on my beloved, before he had left for battle and had thought little of it at the time, I caught a vivid glimpse, as he replayed that moment, over and over, of something that I had previously over-looked.

Although, at first, Bella had resisted Jacob's passion, within seconds she not only gave in, but returned it with equal intensity.

And, I saw other things as well. Bright and explicit images of his memories with her, flickering through his mind like clips on a movie reel.

I could see her smiling at him, laughing about something he had said. I heard her tell him that he was 'sort of beautiful,' I saw her walking to her door, and turning in the doorway, as he told her that he loved her, to wave and call out, 'Love you, too.' I saw her in what must have been his house, sitting on an old couch with her head leaning against his shoulder, heard the little excited squeal in her voice as he picked her up and spun her around like she was no more than a little doll. I saw him, along with the other wolves, running past Bella and catching the fear and bewilderment in her eyes, before charging through the clearing and into the woods to tear Laurent apart. I saw her lying in his arms, after he pulled her out of the ocean…

And then he was hearing those words, again. _Kiss me, Jacob. Kiss me and then come back_, and while he relived that moment, I realized something else that I had over-looked as well.

He had looked back at her, before heading out into the woods and what I saw filled me with dread.

There was a story in her eyes, a story that didn't include me, at all.

* * *

Bella

I cannot honestly say how long I remained there, exactly as Jacob had left me, on my knees, under the shadowing canopy of the trees. In fact, I barely recall trudging my way back to the truck and driving home.

Home.

In three short days, that is what the hotel was, for me, now. Only three days ago my entire world had been rocked and shook off of its foundations, leaving me to float aimlessly, without a compass, upon the surging waves in this tumultuous, blackened sea that had become my life.

I had lost trust, in my husband. And now, Jacob had lost trust, in me.

I shouldn't have expected any different. If I looked back, through the years, it was easy to see that I had never given Jacob much to rely on. Throwing myself at him was not the wisest move. I was just hoping upon hope that, if I gave him what he told me he wanted, he wouldn't turn away from me. But then, how many times have I done that sort of thing, before? And what had it earned him? Nothing.

_Why am I so selfish?_

I fumbled with my keys until I finally managed to find the one that fit my door and let myself inside, falling back upon my bed, where I continued to wallow in my own self pity.

Edward and I were having problems; serious problems that I wasn't sure that we would be able to overcome, but I was still married. I had an obligation, not only to Edward, but to myself, to give this process time.

It wasn't right for me to still want to keep Jacob, for myself. I thought that when I married Edward, my dependency upon Jake would fade, but I was obviously wrong. These guys are so completely different, are natural enemies, even! And yet, they are both so incredibly fundamental to my mental and emotional stability. They were the moon and the sun. I wondered where I would fit into that equation. Would that make me the earth? How can the earth survive with the loss of either?


	16. Chapter 15

_A/N: Thanks so much to my reviewers. You guys always make my day. Sorry it took so long to get this one out there, but I figured it was time to tell a little more about a couple of characters. For those of you who are wondering what will happen with Bella's marriage, and if she will ever see Jacob again, don't worry. Those questions will be answered very soon._

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* * *

  
_

Bella

I woke up screaming.

_Well, hello again, nightmares. Oh, how I've missed you._

I had been at the hotel, now, for an entire month. That's thirty straight days that I've gone without seeing or talking to Edward. This is something that I never dreamed I would ever be willing or able to do. But I had done it. I've survived.

But, the dreams; those horrible nightmares that used to plague my every night, had returned, much to my disappointment. The only difference is that it wasn't just all about Edward.

Jacob was there, as well.

No matter how many times I had started out the door, with the intention of driving to La Push, I always ended up staying put. I couldn't do that, now.

In the past, I could show up whenever I wanted and watch his face light up with that big, brilliant smile of his and just know that within seconds. No matter how much time had passed between us, that I would be picked up and swung around and crushed by one of his famous bear hugs, till I couldn't breathe. We could pal around together, all day long. I could hold his warm hand, and just walk the beach with him and talk about anything and everything. The subject didn't matter. All that mattered was that we were spending time with each other, just Jake and Bells. Then, when the time came for me to leave and go back to Edward, he would look so sad. Even when he tried to hide it, I could see it in his eyes. But, I knew I could come back; that I would come back, and we'd still be us.

But things weren't like that, anymore. As Jacob had pointed out, I had made my choice.

I just didn't expect him to be so accepting of it. And, truthfully, I don't think I ever, really wanted him to be.

Adolfo had had quickly become a friend to me. I suppose I should have thought of this as strange. I mean, how often does a hotel guest become buddy-buddy with the owner? But, I guess he really meant what he told me, upon my first day with him. He really did have a way of making a person feel like family. I was so grateful for our daily conversations, because they helped keep me sane, despite my otherwise, crazy life.

But at the end of the day, things were still the same. I wasn't one step closer to deciding what to do about my marriage. And, I still missed Jake.

I was sitting in my room, contemplating these things, like I do every evening, when I was interrupted by an unexpected knock on the door. Upon opening it, I was immediately pushed aside as Alice flew into the room, dragging an enormous luggage case behind her.

"Alice…Hi! Are you moving in, or something?"

I was really happy to see her. I had made it a point not to call her and the others on a daily basis, so that I could really flesh out my plans, without bias, but I had really missed her. She propped her bag against the closet door and turned to face me with a stern look.

"You never called me," she stated. He expression changing quickly to a pout.

"I do call you, Alice," I protested. "I just don't call you all the time."

"No, Bella, I mean, you never called me to come over," she clarified. I could see a mischievous light dancing around in her eyes, as her expression slowly morphed into a gleeful grin.

"So," she continued, "I decided I would invite myself because you have been holed up in here for far too long, Missy."

I was in some kind of trouble, I just knew it.

"Alice, what are you up to?"

"Not me, Bella," she replied sweetly, "We. We are going to have a girl's night!"

"A girl's night?" I asked, dubiously. I was envisioning me sitting with curlers in my hair, while she happily painted my fingers and toes while scolding me about how I should take better care of my cuticles.

"Yes, a girl's night," she exclaimed, joyfully. "We're going to go out, just you and me and you're going to eat delicious food and drink delicious drinks, and we're going to sing and you're going to drink some more delicious drinks and we're going to dance! Oh, Bella, it's going to be so much fun!"

"Oh no, Alice," I said. "You know I don't dance."

"That's only because you don't drink enough, Bella," she deadpanned.

"I don't drink enough? Since when is there a rule that says I have to drink at all? I've heard of drinking too much, but I don't think anyone has ever been convicted for not drinking enough. My dad's a cop. I should know."

Judging by Alice's expression, I think it was safe to assume that my attempt at light-hearted evasion fell flat. Her lip curled up, curiously, and one eye was squinted at me. Suddenly, her hand came up and poked me, square in the chest.

"Ow!"

"You don't ever do anything fun with me, Bella," she said. In fact, since Edward pulled his little stunt, you haven't gone and had any fun at all! Tonight, we are going to have fun, even if I have to twist your arm and kick you all the way!"

"Oh, well, since you put it that way," I droned, sarcastically, "It sounds fantastic." I don't think it really mattered to her how I said it. All she cared about was that I agreed.

"Yay!" she squealed, and threw her arms around my shoulders, her infectious enthusiasm forcing a smile out of me, in spite of myself, as she all but forced me to jump up and down with her.

"Oh Bella, it _i**s**_ going to be fantastic! It is! Just you wait and see! But, first things, first!" Alice whirled away from me, dancing over to the behemoth of a bag that she had hauled into my room and pulled out a satiny, dark blue blouse with a neckline that hardly existed.

"We've got to get you ready!"

My eyes just about bulged out of my head as I realized that she expected me to wear this.

_Hello again, nightmares,_ I thought to myself. _Oh how I've missed you._

* * *

Valentino was sitting at the bar, looking at the various paintings and pictures which hung on the wall, behind Adolfo, who was stocking the mini fridge, for the evening.

Never tearing his eyes away, he asked, "Isn't life amazing, Cousin?"

"Sure," came Adolfo's muffled reply, from under the bar. "I never tire of stocking beer."

Valentino chuckled, darkly. "Yes, well, I'll pretend I didn't hear that," he said. "Did you ever think, that we'd still be sitting here, today, looking as fantastic as we do, one hundred years ago?"

"Yup," Adolfo replied simply, while standing and wiping his hands on the bar towel. Well, at least I figured that I would. You, on the other hand, not so much.

Smiling, Valentino nodded. "Yes, I suppose it doesn't come as much of a surprise for you. Longevity is something to be expected for your kind, even if you are still mortal. But, me?" He took a long pull off of his cigar watching the grey plume of smoke rise into the air after he exhaled. "I should have been long in the ground. I suppose I have you to thank for that, though, Wolfie."

Adolfo studied his cousin's face for a second, before he replied. It wasn't often that Valentino got into one of these moods. He was usually, quite the up-beat character. Also, this was a rather sore subject for them both.

"You're the weirdest damn vampire I've ever seen, you know that?" He asked him, gesturing to the cigar Valentino held, and the drink that sat to his right. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that your kind doesn't like things like cigars, and liquor?"

Valentino picked up his drink and shook it, just enough to cause the ice to rattle in the glass. "My kind is missing out, then. It can't kill me and it still tastes good, so who cares? Besides, I've always been…eccentric. And you, my dear cousin, are avoiding the subject."

"I was young, and naive," Adolfo said, turning his attention to the pictures, as well. "We've been over this a hundred times, now. The last thing in the world I ever would have wanted was for that to happen to you."

"Ah, but it did happen," Valentino sighed. "And, you know, for the first time, I think there was a good thing that it did."

"You do?" Adolfo looked back at his cousin, questioningly. "How is that, praytell?"

"Well," Valentino began, running his finger around the rim of his drink. "The reason I am here is to keep tabs on the Cullen family. Aro seems to have a certain concern about the new girl; the very girl that happens to be staying here."

"You don't say?" Adolfo leaned against the bar and chewed his lip, thoughtfully. "And, why is that, exactly?"

A sly smile spread across Valentino's face as he watched his cousin's display of discomfort. "Oh, don't worry, Cousin. You know whose team I'm really on. I mean no harm to the girl, so stop fidgeting. It seems that Aro thinks she may be some sort of a threat. He wants to be certain that the Cullens have turned her, which, of course, I'm delighted to report that they have."

"But, she's not a vampire," Adolfo stated. "So, what exactly are you up to?"

"Oh, don't play dumb with me," Valentino hissed. "You can't tell me that you haven't noticed that she isn't like most humans. The way she looks, the way she smells. Why else would you cater so kindly to her? I think she's the one your side of the family has been whispering about for centuries. And, I believe that you suspect this as well. And, do you what? That suits me just fine."

Adolfo remained silent, but Valentino could read the truth in his cousin's eyes. He did suspect her. And, the fact that he did, only proved to further solidify the belief in his own mind.

"Truthfully, Wolfie, Aro wouldn't have sent me, had I not implanted the idea in his mind, to begin with. I saw her, a couple of years ago, myself. Aro couldn't read her, Jane could not hurt her, and at the time, she was painfully human. I had my suspicions, even then. After all, what do the stories always say? And to see her now, she glows. She radiates a kind of power, from within, that I believe she does not even recognize. If I am correct, Cousin… If this is true, then this is exactly what we've been waiting for. All my time spent in that dreadful place will not have been in vain. I am in the perfect position to buy her time and, perhaps, shield her from the eyes of those who would destroy her, at least until her purpose has been fulfilled."

"I'm surprised that you've managed to remain concealed, for so long, Val." Adolfo lowered his voice, as the first patrons of the evening began filtering into the bar. "But, if you are correct, I'll be the first to say that I'm very glad you did. I'm just sorry for what you have had to endure in order to be there."

"Yes, well…"

Valentino paused while one of the customers approached and ordered some drinks for his table. After the gentleman had left with his round, he continued.

"Having the ability to hide my other talents from Aro's mind serves me well. Were it not for that, my residence there would be impossible. I never wanted to be this sort of monster, you know. But, at least I have loyalties. If my turning can play a pivotal role in the change of power, then it is a price I am willing to pay. Perhaps, in this, I may finally find my redemption."

As Valentino's voice trailed off, his attention was drawn to a couple who had begun to walk in and out carrying miscellaneous sound equipment. For this trip, the woman was carrying a television set.

"Please tell me, Cousin, that they aren't going to do what I think they are," Valentino groaned.

"Oh, I'm afraid it's true, Val," Adolfo said, nodding. "Tonight, we are having Karaoke."

Valentino scowled at his drink and grumbled, "It isn't fair that I can no longer get drunk. This is going to be a long night, indeed."

* * *

Bella

The super-low-cut blouse aside, I was having a pretty good time. Alice and I had gone to a new seafood restaurant in Port Angeles where, instead of ordering two dinners, we chose a large appetizer tray. It was more than enough food for me, and it was easier for Alice to hide the fact that she wasn't eating, than if she had ordered a plate for herself. And, true to her word, it seemed like a new drink was brought to our table every ten minutes.

By the time we left I was stuffed to the gills, no pun intended, and not just a little bit tipsy, to boot.

"So, let me get this straight," she was saying, as we walked through the swinging doors and out into the cool, night air. "You threw yourself at the wolf-boy and he just dumped you on the ground and left you there?"

"Yeah," I confirmed. "That's exactly what happened."

I couldn't believe I was having this conversation with Alice. I especially couldn't believe that I was having it without bawling my eyes out. Alcohol does have its advantages, after all.

"Well, that just doesn't make sense to me," she said. She pulled out her keys, pressing the button to unlock the car and one by one, we opened our doors and settled ourselves into the Porsche.

"I mean, first, I have to say for the record, gross! I mean, if you have to have an affair, I would have hoped that you would have at least tried for someone of the non-canine variety. If the two of you start hanging around again, I'm going to have to learn to get used to the smell of dog. And, I'm really not sure that's possible. But, you would think that, after panting over you all this time, he would have been all over it."

I caught myself laughing at Alice's bluntness. "Man, Alice! Could you be a little cruder about it?"

"Sure," she replied, "If you really want me to. But, my guess is that you really don't."

"Yeah," I agreed, "You are probably right."

I looked out the window and watched the street lights. In my half-drunken state they seemed to blur and appeared to have little trails of light, streaming behind, as we whizzed past them.

"So, where to, now?" I asked her.

"Back to the hotel, I guess," she replied.

"Oh…I thought we were going to pull a late nighter," I said, trying to hide the disappointment in my voice. I didn't want to ruin my reputation as a home-body.

"Oh, we still are," she said. "Apparently, there is a little something going on at the lounge. They hired a DJ and they are also supposed to have Karaoke."

Warning bells went off inside my head and suddenly, the idea of calling it an early night sounded quite appealing to me.

"Uh-uh, no way, Alice. I don't dance. And I certainly don't sing. You do _not_ want to hear me sing!"

Alice smiled, and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and answered in her sweetest voice, "Sure, Bella. Okay. We'll just go and play everything by ear, once we get there. You might be surprised at what you feel like doing."

Play it by ear. Sure we were. I knew Alice too well, by now, to believe for one second that she meant that, at all. But, I knew one thing for sure. I wasn't ever going to _feel_ like singing.

We walked into the lounge a little after 9pm to the sound of blaring techno and flashing lights.

Adolfo had explained to me, during one of our many talks, about how he had soundproofed the lounge so that it would never become a cause for disruption for the guests who were in their rooms, on these sorts of occasions. But, with as loud as the place was, tonight, I felt it safe to assume that the limits were being more than pushed.

Within minutes, I found another drink in my hand, while Alice pulled me through the crowd of people to a table on the far side of the bar, near the dance floor, where she sat me down next to none other than, Jasper. Grinning like a mad man, on the other side of us was Emmett.

"Hey, Alice!" I yelled, straining to hear myself over the pounding music, "I thought this was a _girls only_ night!"

"Things change!" She shouted back at me. "It's just for while were down here, anyway. I wasn't sure how you'd be feeling, by now."

"What does how I'm feeling have anything to do with it?" I asked.

I really didn't mind them being there. In fact, it was really nice to see them, again. Especially, Emmett. I had missed him nearly as much as I had missed Alice. He was, after all, the person who got me to finally realize that I had a right to my own feelings. In fact, I was really happy to have them both there…

That's when it hit me.

I started to feel happy. Like, a silly, giddy, kind of happy. I looked across the table at Emmett, who still wore that goofy grin and was looking right at Jasper, who currently, had his arm over the back of my chair.

_Oh no you don't_, I thought, turning to tell Jasper to knock it off when Alice ran over and snatched me by the arm, dragging me to the dance floor.

Under the influence of alcohol and supernatural frivolity, I surrendered all hope and danced.

* * *

Valentino remained in his seat, from earlier in the evening and was talking with Adolfo and taking in the crowd, as people lined up at the bar to place their drink orders. So, it was that he noticed Carlisle, the moment he stepped in through the outside door.

"Adolfo," he said, quietly. "We have company."

"Hey'a, Carlisle, my man," Adolfo called out to him. "What brings you here, this evening?"

"Well, I received a curious call, today," he replied. "The gentleman on the phone asked that I meet him here, at this time. He indicated that the matter was of some importance, although I'm not sure what about or why he would want to speak here, considering the noise level."

Valentino stood, then, and extended his hand.

"It was I, who called you, Carlisle. My name is Valentino. The noise level is perfect because no human ear will be able to hear us.

"How is it that you know who I am, sir?" Carlisle inquired, warily. He eyed the other vampire, noting the peculiar color of his eyes, with suspicion.

"I am afraid I know more about you and your family than just your name, Carlisle. It's my job, you see. And, you should consider yourself fortunate that I am the one who has sought you out. I have something for you. Something that I believe will answer many questions that you may already have been searching for."

"You are speaking in riddles, sir," Carlisle stated, "And, I'm not sure what you are leading to, but I'm afraid I must demand to know."

"All in due time, Dr. Cullen," Valentino told him, placing special emphasis on Carlisle's title. He reached under the bar and placed a light briefcase on top of it, sliding it over to rest in front of where Carlisle stood.

"Inside, you will find a volume. It is a copy, I'm afraid, from my own hand, as I dared not bring the original for fear of discovery. But, it is a journal of sorts. Aro's journal. I can assure you that the dates and everything noted inside are absolutely correct. You want to read this, believe me."

"You are from Volterra." Carlisle stared at Valentino with hardened eyes.

"Yes," Valentino confirmed, with a nod.

"Why would you bring me this?" Carlisle asked.

Valentino waved a dismissive hand, at the question and replied, "Why doesn't matter, at the moment. What matters is what you will find inside of it. You and your family are in a perilous position, Carlisle. Just know that I am not the villain that you suspect me to be. Just read it. I'm not going anywhere, soon. When you have finished, you will find me, here."

Valentino fished in his wallet and made a show of dropping a five dollar bill on the bar.

"Adolfo," he called out, already backing away. "It's been great. But, I believe the time has come for me to retire!"

He then turned on his heel and strode through the crowd and out the main door, into the lobby.

Adolfo cut his eyes to the side to find Carlisle starting at him.

"He's my cousin" he offered, as explanation and noted the look of surprise that came into Carlisle's eyes, at the revelation. Then, nodding to the briefcase, he added, "You really should take that," he said. "He has endangered himself by bringing this to you."

"You know, Adolfo," Carlisle spoke softly, his eyes focusing on the stage where Alice was attempting to get Bella to sing a song with her, "I believe you are a decent sort of fellow. But, if you think I do not know the truth about what you are, you would be mistaken. I tell you this, only because I want you to understand that I have entrusted Bella here, for a reason. She has always been one to attract danger to herself, and needs people around her who are capable of holding off the particular types that usually come calling. I pray that I have not made a grave mistake in entrusting her here

Carlisle turned and gazed into Adolfo's eyes, meaningfully, as he finished. "I would be deeply saddened if I were to find myself in a position where I would need to return on less civilized terms."

At last, Carlisle collected the briefcase and nodded to Adolfo before he also left the lounge, the way he had come.

_God, Val_, Adolfo thought to himself. _I sure hope you know what you are doing._

_

* * *

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_Please don't forget to check out the forum for Turn of Events at twilighted (dot) net for sneak peeks of upcoming chapters._

_Happy Holidays, guys!_


	17. Chapter 16

_A/N: Well, here it is, finally. An entire Jacob chapter for all of who who have been wondering what the heck he's been up to. Your reviews are the inspiration for this chapter. When I started out, I had something different in mind. More along the lines of a quick touch-base with Jacob and carrying on to the other characters, but the muse said "Nay! They can wait until Chapter 17." And, so they shall.  
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_I want to thank all of you guys for hanging in there with me, because I know this story has been a lengthy ride, but I'm really hoping to make it worth it, in the long haul.  
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_Please continue to leave me your thoughts on the story. They really do help to keep me going. I'm not promising anything, but maybe if I get enough inspiration I can squeeze out another chapter before or at least by Christmas._

_;-)_

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* * *

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Jacob

Leaving like that was the hardest thing I had ever done.

I had really botched things up. I tracked her down by following that invisible cord that had linked her to me, ever since I imprinted on her. The closer I got, the stronger the pull. The stronger the pull, the angrier I became and then what happens, the second here eyes meet mine? I lose all momentum. It was all I could do to keep enough composure to at least _look_ as though I were angry.

How could she still do this to me? Imprinting sucks!

I ran as fast as I could, back to La Push. But, as luck would have it, I wasn't the only one out and about, this evening and before long, Leah was running beside me.

I was an emotional train wreck and I knew that she could hear and see everything that had just happened between Bella and me, so I was just waiting for her to pop off with some sarcastic remark. Surprisingly, however, she didn't say a word.

This seemed to be the beginning of some kind of trend, because nearly every night afterward, when I took off for a run without the pack, she would just show up at my side like a constant shadow. It might have been comforting, even, were it not for the fact that it was Leah, and silent companionship wasn't something she was really known for.

So, after so many nights of this, it came as no surprise to me that she found me again, about a month after the incident which started it all. As usual, she said nothing. She just continued to run alongside me until I found myself back at First Beach where I finally slowed down to a walk.

When, her thoughts reached me at last, I wasn't prepared for the sympathy in her tone.

_I dreamt about you two, you know._

I turned to see her staring off into the waves and waited to see if there was a specific purpose or barb waiting for me at the end of this revelation.

"_The night that I told Seth I was ill…I had it the night before. It wasn't a lie, exactly. I dreamed of you two rolling around like a couple of rabbits. It was nauseating._"

_Ah, and there it is_, I thought; the barb at the end of the line. What I couldn't understand was the lack of the usual triumphant gusto, in Leah's tone.

If she was waiting for a response, however, she would be in for a let-down. I padded away behind a tall, rocky formation near the water's edge and changed back into my human form before she could read any further into my thoughts and then headed over to the driftwood bench that Bella and I used to sit on, back before things became so damned complicated.

Of course, I should have known that getting away from Leah wouldn't be that easy. By the time I reached the spot, she was already there, perched upon the log with one leg crossed over the other and patting the empty place, beside her.

"Leah, I'm really, really not in the mood for this tonight," I told her. I wasn't really expecting this to change her mind, but I wanted to, at least, make myself clear on the matter.

True to form, she completely ignored my statement and answered, "So, it's true then. Bella's not only alive, but something more than human and you imprinted on her."

I folded my arms across my chest and stared down at her, giving her a look that I hoped was more threatening than the self-conscious way that I actually felt. Of course, it didn't faze her a bit. She just shrugged at my posturing and continued on with her little interrogation.

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

Yeah, I definitely had enjoyed her company more when she was silent. Realizing, however, that she wasn't going to leave, or even stop for that matter, I finally relented and sat down beside her.

"Nothing."

Her eyebrows shot up and she looked at me as if I was insane, but her voice remained calm when she responded.

"Nothing?"

"Nope," I confirmed. "Nothing. She's married, Leah. She made her choice, already. She doesn't want me. She just doesn't want to be alone. If I were to take advantage of that, she'd regret it. She wouldn't be happy and that's all I want for her, now. No matter how much I might wish for things to be otherwise. I think it's best that I just stay away."

Leah's bewildered expression turned quickly into a smoldering look of anger and before I could even begin to wonder why, her arm shot out, quick as a snake, and the back of her hand collided with the side of my face hard enough to rock my head to the side.

"Ow! What the hell, you bitch!" I yelled standing and rubbing my jaw. And, she was right up on her feet, as well, hollering right back.

"Bitch? I'm not the one sniveling and carrying on with a bunch of bullshit! "Are you really so fucking stupid that you believe all the crap you threw out there, just now? Or, is it that you think that I'm just fucking stupid enough to buy into it?

"_No matter how much I might wish for things to be otherwise!" _ Leah mocked me with cruel, dramatic flair.

"_Oh that poor, wretched, little white girl just threw herself at me and practically begged for the one _thing _I've spent the last few years fantasizing about, but I'm too much of a chicken-shit to jump on that! No way! I imprinted on her, I got everything I've been hoping for all laid out in front of me! Why… If I did that, I might actually have to stop whining!" _

When she finished, she fixed her eyes on me with a frigid stare. I was so angry, I was beyond words.

"You know, Jacob," she said, "I could never figure out what you saw in that girl. I mean, really, I couldn't and honestly, I still don't. In fact, I can't stand her. So, I never thought that there would ever be a day that I would say this, but I actually feel sorry for her. I mean, what in the hell were you thinking? You track her down like prey, bang up her truck and scare the shit out of her, hit her with a bunch of questions and just walk off? And, then, even though you don't deserve it, after what you just pulled, she runs after you and clings to you for dear life and you drop her? And then you have the nerve to tell her that you did it because you love her?"

It all sounded a lot worse, coming out of Leah's mouth, like that. In fact, it sounded down-right horrible! But, she wasn't looking at the big picture.

"Leah, it's not as simple as that, and you know it," I told her.

"Isn't it though, Jacob?" She asked, cocking her head to the side. I'll be damned, if she didn't look like she was going to start crying.

"I might not be the easiest person to get along with," Leah said, "But, I always thought you were an alright kind of guy. But, looking at you now, I see someone totally different than who I thought you were. You are worse than Sam."

_Sam? What does Sam have anything to do with this? _ Now, she wasn't making any sense to me, at all.

"This is nothing like what happened between you and Sam," I told her, flatly.

"You're right," Leah agreed. "It isn't. At least Sam was man enough to be true to himself. He didn't drag shit out."

"That isn't fair," I corrected her. "It's not the same and you can't compare me to him. Besides, you hate Sam for what happened. That's the only reason you joined my pack to begin with, was to get away from him, so if I'm so much worse then why are you still standing here?"

"I hate imprinting, Jacob!" She practically shouted. "I hate imprinting, not Sam. I want to hate him. I've tried to hate him. But, as much as I wish that I could, I can't. All I can do is love him."

I had nothing to say to this. I could relate to how she felt because that was very much the same way that I felt about Bella. I had tried to make myself hate her so that I wouldn't hurt every time I thought about her choosing the bloodsucker over me. But, I could never hate Bella, either.

"I didn't understand," she continued. "Everything was perfect and then, suddenly, it was all gone. There was no way I could have known what had happened, then. I knew nothing of wolves and imprinting. All I knew was that my cousin, who was more like my sister, had taken my heart…And, that's what Sam was to me, you know? He was my heart. He was my everything."

She stopped, for a moment, angrily wiping her eyes before the tears could even fall from them before she carried on.

"And, then, after I changed…I could see it all. And, it hurt me even more."

"Imprinting, they say, is something that happens for a purpose; a mystical connection between two individuals who, together, would create stronger protectors for the tribe. Yet, here I was, the only woman to ever become part of the boys' club and it couldn't have been me? It should have been me, Jacob! It should have been, but it wasn't. It isn't. Sam was mine. And, now, he's not. Imprinting took my dreams away from me, Jacob. But, you…Imprinting has given you the chance to finally have what you have always wanted. And, you are just going to walk away from it? After all these years of pining for her, and making the rest of us suffer through what you have been feeling, you choose _now _to just let her go?"

This wasn't something that I was ready to deal with. Why is it that women always have a way of making men feel like crap? Through the pack mind, I had felt Leah's pain on many gut wrenching occasions. So, why couldn't she understand that my heart couldn't take any more rejection? Of course, I didn't want to let Bella go; every part of my being screamed to be near her. It didn't matter that she loved me, too. She had told me enough times. She loved Edward more.

I was no longer a fifteen year old kid, just tagging along and hoping that she would change her mind. I could never be that innocent, wide-eyed fifteen year old kid, again. I had imprinted, yes. But, that didn't mean that I could just assume that things were different with Bella, now.

"I can't take it, Leah," I said. "My heart can't take any more. I've always loved her; the imprint just pulls harder on the strings that were already there to begin with. I wouldn't be able to bear it, if she were to refuse me, again. Not now. It's too much. I'd rather not know."

"So, in other words, you are just going to hide from her because you are scared?" Leah shook her head at me.

"Let me share something with you, Jacob," she said with a sigh. "You are a protector. You are a warrior. Albeit, a whiny one, but a warrior all the same. Warriors are brave. Bravery is not a word for those who never fear, but a word for those who face their fears, head-on. Fuck all this being scared shit. If I were you, I'd be going over there and claiming what's mine."

"She's already married," I argued.

"She's married to a man who has been legally dead for over one hundred years. I hardly think that is spiritually binding," Leah countered.

"But, she loves him," I responded.

Not to be swayed, Leah counteracted with, "She loves you, too."

"Yes," I agreed. "But, she loves him more."

To this, Leah raised one brow and pursed her lips as if in thought and mused, "Does she?" The challenge in her tone was unmistakable.

"Then, why isn't she with him, Jacob?" She asked, and to this, I had no argument.

Bella had told me why she had run away, initially. But, it really didn't explain why she had taken up residence, elsewhere. The Bella that I knew had always been emotional and quick to jump, but just as quick to forgiveness, especially where Edward was concerned. But, several weeks had passed and Bella still had not returned home.

How did I know this? Because that same invisible pull that had led me to her a month ago, led me to where she was staying, later on. I felt a little creepy, checking up on her without her knowledge, but it seemed to be the only way I could numb the ache that seemed to be tearing at me all of the time. She almost caught me, on a few occasions. It was as if she could sense that I was there. One minute she would be doing something like, reading a newspaper on the balcony and the next minute, she'd be jumping up and looking around. Man, she was fast! It was hard to get used to that and I was always unprepared.

She seemed to have befriended the inn-keeper, and there was something about him, as well, that made me curious. I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was, but there was a certain vibe that seemed to radiate off of him. It wasn't bad, necessarily, but it was unusual and oddly familiar at the same time.

This whole conversation with Leah was messing with my head, and making me question things that I thought I already had in perspective. It wasn't like the evening hadn't been hard enough for me, already and I blinked against the stinging in my eyes. I was angry at Leah, all over again, for warring with my defenses and stirring my hopes.

"Well, lover-boy," she said, "I'm going to go home, now. I don't know why I bothered, anyway. You're too damned stubborn for your own good. I just want to say one more thing. I would kill to be in your shoes, right now and, FYI…Imprinting doesn't just work one way. I should know. I didn't just lose Sam, you know. I lost my best friend, too."

She left without another word and I watched her as she grew smaller and smaller, not even bothering to wipe away the tears that refused to be damned up any longer.

I wasn't so sure that Bella would automatically fall for me, just because of an imprint. She, obviously, was no longer simply human. And, frankly, I wouldn't want her to. If we were ever to be together, I would want her to be with me because she truly wanted to. Not because she had to.

But, she did love me…I could see it in her eyes when she looked at me, even after she married the leech.

Leah was right about me. I was acting like a coward and that wasn't what I was meant to be. And, I really didn't want to be sneaking around forever just to catch a glimpse of Bella here and there to stave off the pain. That was about as effective as taking Vicodin to medicate a broken arm. It takes the edge off, but it still hurts.

As soon as Leah was gone, I phased again, and took off in the other direction.

I had made up my mind.

I would tell her nothing. She didn't need to know. The imprinting was my burden to bear, not hers. But, I couldn't hide from her forever. If nothing else, I could be her friend. If that's what she wanted me to be, then her will would be mine. There was still a chance that she would send me away broken hearted. But, honestly, it had been broken for a long time, anyway.

I had nothing left to lose.


	18. Chapter 17

**_A/N: So, it has taken me a very long time to update this story and I apologize. It seems that, over the holidays, I was struck with a major case of writer's block. Hopefully, I'm over it, now and will get the next chapter up much more quickly._**

**_This chapter is an especially long one, so I hope that makes up for the time lost._**

**_Please leave a review and let me know what you think, guys. I'd love to hear from y'all, again._**

**_Thanks._**

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It was with a troubled and conflicted heart that Carlisle found himself in his study, holding the newly copied journal in his hands.

Inside these pages could lay the answers that he had been searching for, concerning his daughter-in-law. However, there was also the possibility that everything he was about to read would be a lie. If Edward had been here, he would have been able to read into the mind of this Valentino character and provide him with a clearer picture, regarding Valentino's intentions. But, he was not.

He was not immediately concerned with Bella's welfare for he knew that Alice would not let any harm come to her. Not to mention the fact that, when he left the hotel lounge, Jasper and Emmett were still in attendance, as well. But, this did not stop him from worrying about the newcomer in the larger scheme of things.

Who was he, really? Carlisle could not fathom a way that a traitor would be able to reside within the walls of Volterra undetected. Not with Aro's abilities, along with those of his guard. Nor could he understand why anyone with the ability to do so would want to subject themselves to that sort of existence. If ever there was a vampire with abilities remarkable enough to accomplish the feat that Valentino claimed, he would have no need for the Volturi and their rules and regulations. He could make no sense of it at all.

His attention was drawn to the cell phone which had begun to vibrate on his desktop and upon looking at the screen and seeing it was Alice, he answered it before the ring-tone had a chance to play.

"Alice," he answered, "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, everything is fine," Alice responded in a whisper. "I just snuck into the bathroom to call you. Carlisle, this is incredible! Have you read it, yet?"

"I take it you know about the journal, then," Carlisle murmured. He leaned back in his office chair as Esme came in behind him to rest her hands upon his shoulders. "But, to answer your question, no. I was just debating whether or not I should, when you called."

Alice's response was both excited and urgent at once. "Yes, I do. I saw it, Carlisle…I saw what is inside it in a vision. And, believe me, you want to read it. It's the real deal. This Valentino guy is amazing! I've never known of anyone to possess as many talents as he does. I mean, to be able to do this, right under Aro's nose--"

"Yes, yes, Alice," Carlisle interrupted. "If this is true, I don't argue that fact, at all. But, my question is, do you trust him?"

There was a heavy silence on the other end of the line that seemed to stretch on for an eternity. When Alice's voice reached Carlisle's ears, once more, it was with a note of surety.

"I can't see why it would benefit him to share this information with us, if he meant us any harm. And, honestly, after what I saw, I can say with a fair amount of certainty that he has a great deal more to gain, on a personal, level by helping us."

There was another brief pause before Alice continued.

"Carlisle, I understand why you distrust him. But, trust me. Read the book. I'll be back in the morning and we can talk more about it. Oh, and by the way, we're going to have company. I've gotta go before Bella starts wondering what I'm up to. Bye!"

Carlisle hung up the phone and set it back down on the desk, and went back to looking at the cover of the ominous book.

"What is that, Darling?" Esme asked him, pulling up a chair to sit beside him.

Carlisle sighed as he picked it up and turned his chair so that Esme could read along with him as he opened the cover.

"According to Alice," he said, "This is the book that holds all the answers. It's a copy of Aro's journal."

Together, they took note of the first date written and began to read.

_Mathias's adventure has gotten far out of hand._

_In the beginning, his taste for mortal women was something that I found amusing. Our travels have taken us to and fro across the world and while the rest of us would prey upon the weakness of humans to satiate our thirsts, Mathius would, inevitably, find some young and lovely maiden to satiate his other, more primal needs, instead. _

_He never fed off them. And, he never turned a single one. This was something that fascinated me to no end. How he could refrain from killing them, during the act itself, was mind boggling enough. But, what matter was it to him whether or not they walked the earth, once we had departed? We would all tease him, mercilessly about this, saying that perhaps, it was his way of saying,_ Thank you, for the lovely time.

_However, we have now planted roots firmly in Italy and no longer travel as much as we once did. And, we all realized that a new level of discretion would be required if we were to continue on here. This, of course, did nothing to curb Mathius's enthusiastic skirt chasing. But, we assumed that since there were only so many women in one small area, he would eventually tire of these games and come to order along with the rest of us. How I wish our assumptions had been correct. But, no; instead, permanence brought another problem into play._

_The fool fell in love._

_I wish that I could say that it was mere fancy; that he had become infatuated with the woman's antics, or even her sexual expertise. But, alas, the instant I touched his hand, I had seen into our dear friend's mind, heard his thoughts and experienced his feelings and could not deny the level of emotion that he felt toward her._

_Azzura is her name. She resides in a Roma colony, on the outskirts of our fair city. Of all the many mortals in the world, our Mathius had fallen for a Gypsy._

_Oh, there is no denying that she is beautiful to behold. Her skin is like polished brass, her hair falls in long dark waves down her back and her eyes are darker still. The first memory I received of her, she was dancing around a bonfire. He had been completely entranced. _

_She had bewitched him, thoroughly._

Esme continued to read, flipping through the pages they poured over the book, reading about the little details concerning Volterra's meager beginnings and the arguments between Mathius and the rest of the clan. The dates began to fly by at a quickening pace where it was obvious that Aro had devoted less and less time to his record keeping.

_Time means so little to me, now, that I often forget to pay it much mind. But, it has occurred to me, this day, that it has been ten years since Mathius started his affair with this mortal woman; ten miserable years of bickering about his foolishness and the obvious risk of exposure that he was taking, not only for himself, but for the rest of us, as well. Ten years of listening to him as he assured me that there was nothing to worry about._

_Why do I continue to waste my time with such foolishness? Why, I did not even grant this much leniency to my own sister, my own mortal flesh and blood, before I put her to death. _

_He no longer resides in our midst. He prefers to remain in the village with his mortal _wife_._

_I should have known from the beginning, what he was really trying to do by keeping his distance. There was something that he did not want me to see._

_But I have seen._

_Just because someone is beyond my physical touch does not mean that they are invisible to the eye. And my eyes have seen more than I had ever imagined._

_Mathius has more than a woman tucked away in that quaint, tired little dwelling; so much more, indeed, that it should be impossible._

_Mathius had fathered a family._

"Carlisle," Esme's voice broke into his concentration.

"The book, you read some time ago… Isn't this the same person it referred to?"

Carlisle nodded, remembering the sketches of the children that had been drawn inside, and the strange markings that they all seemed to share. He also recalled Alice telling him that she had seen that same mark on Bella, as well. But, at the time, Carlisle cast the mark aside as pure coincidence. Birthmarks come in many various shapes and sizes and it is not entirely unusual for one to see one and think of another much like it

He wondered what the connection, if any, there was to Bella and these children. Could they be distant relatives of hers? The fact that this book had been delivered into his hands certainly pointed in that direction. And, if this was so, could this be the reason that she had been resistant to venom? Perhaps, if the relation had not been several hundred years removed, she would have already been as she is now. But something told him that there was much more to this tale that what had been revealed, thus far…

_None of us could ever dream that something such as this would ever be plausible; a vampire with powers to procreate? Absolutely astounding! _

_After much discussion, it has been decided that since Mathius has chosen to abandon us and hide not only his actions, but also his motives, that it would be in our best interest to study these children, of his. Are they immortal? Do they possess any powers or gifts that could be of use to us? Or, could their existence pose a threat? It was more than mere foolishness for Mathius to think that I would not find out about them. Not to mention, selfish._

_I have assembled a small group, which will be led by Caius, to go and capture one of the children and bring it to Volterra for closer examination._

_They go, tonight. _

With Esme at his side, Carlisle continued to read, long into the wee hours, finding more than just a little bit about what they had all been so eager to know. But with each turn of the page, the story grew darker and darker still and Carlisle realized that it was likely that Aro had suspected Bella's nature from the beginning and had never intended for her to remain with his household.

Bella had the natural ability to attract danger to herself without even trying. And, now, with their help, she had unwittingly drawn the attention of the most dangerous coven in the entire world.

Bella

There's something to be said about the consumption of alcoholic beverages when you are out with the likes of Alice Cullen.

Don't. Do. It.

True to her word, Alice fed me just about every _delicious_ drink imaginable and before I knew it I was dancing.

And singing.

And, to my future horror, dancing while I was singing.

I have a vague memory of jumping up and down and screaming out that each and every song that the DJ played was my favorite song ever. The Karaoke songs, of course, were no exception.

Emmett and Jasper were of no help, whatsoever. I am completely convinced that Jasper was more responsible for my out of character behavior than the alcohol. And Emmett seemed to be taking advantage of a night out without Rosalie's condescending eye by being even more obnoxious than was customary for him, dancing and shaking his groove thing on the stage, pointing and winking at the drunken ladies who screamed and gasped as though he was an actual star at a rock concert.

I wonder how many Billy Idol songs, are there, anyway? I'm sure he must have sung them all!

Although Alice was the coordinator of my foolishness, I think she realized that she had bitten off more than even she could chew while she attempted, inconspicuously, to pull me down from a table that I had chosen as my new favorite dancing spot. I was told, later on, that she had made a personal vow to never take me drinking again.

But, at the time, I was having a blast. And so when it was time to leave, I found myself arm in arm with Alice, singing happily all the way out the door and through the main foyer of the hotel as we headed back to my room.

"_It took all the strength I had not to fall apart!"_

I never realized before what great acoustics the hotel's hallway had. It was almost like singing in the shower. Of course, I was usually in the shower by myself and, therefore, had no captive audience. But, that's okay.

"_Just tryin' hard to mend the pieces of my broken heart!"_

"Shh! C'mon, Bella," Alice whispered, loudly, as I turned the corner. "We're supposed to be going _this_ way."

She tugged roughly on my arm, steering me around and leading me in the opposite direction.

"Whoa, Alice!" I complained. "Slow down. Don't get your designer panties in such a bunch!" I snickered loudly, at my own joke as well as Alice's bewildered expression because, let's face it, I knew they had to really be the designer kind. "You're ruining my song!"

"Now, where was I?" I wondered, aloud, trying to keep my balance as Alice walked briskly along the carpeted floor. _How does she do that in those stiletto heels? _"Oh, wait…I remember!"

"_But I spent oh so many nights just feelin' sorry for myself, but I grew strong. And I learned how to get along! And, you see me… Somebody new! I'm not that chained up little person still in love with you… "_

"Bella," Alice cut in again, "Some people here are trying to sleep. You need to be quiet now. Besides," she added, releasing my arm and reaching into my coat pocket and retrieving the key to open the door, "you are singing it all wrong."

"Hey! I was not!" I cried, defensively.

"Yes," Alice said simply, as she opened the door and ushered me inside, "you were."

Instantly, the smell of something incredible hit my nose and I spotted the pizza on the table and nearly tripped over my own feet scrambling over to it.

"Alice! You read my mind," I said and threw open the lid to look upon the most beautiful vegetarian combo I had ever seen.

Smiling, this time, Alice nodded and confirmed my exclamation.

"Yes. I did."

She closed the door and hung her jacket neatly on the coat rack before she came to join me at the table.

The Cullens always seemed to enjoy feeding me and watching me eat. Even after all this time, it was still kind of weird for me because they would just flat out stare. But, tonight, I couldn't have cared less. I hadn't realized how ravenous I had become until just now. I felt like I could have eaten the whole thing.

"But, I have to admit, Carlisle told me that you would probably be hungry, if you drank a lot," she told me. He also said that you should take these."--She pushed some vitamins across the table to me--"And you should drink plenty of water now, because if you wait until tomorrow, you are going to have a hangover." She finished with a nod at the crystal pitcher filled with ice water which was sitting next to the pizza box.

"Hangover, Shmangover," I teased, through a mouthful of pizza, but I poured myself a glass of water and then took the pills, anyway.

"Goodness, Bella!" Alice exclaimed. "I've never seen you like this. I've figured that a few drinks would loosen you up a bit, but this is like sitting next to someone completely different. I've never seen you talk with your mouth full, before!"

"Well," I paused to pick up another piece of pizza before I continued with my response. "You're right. Normally, I wouldn't do that. But, I'm just so flippin' hungry! And, I have to be honest… I'm more conservative that normal when it comes to my eating habits, in front of you guys, most of the time."

"You are?" she asked. She pulled one of her tiny feet unto the chair that she was sitting on and wrapped her arms around her knee. "Why?"

"Because you guys stare at me," I told her, truthfully. "It's kind of weird. I'm always worried that I have food on my face or something."

Alice rested the side of her chin on her knee and turned her eyes toward the ceiling as if lost in thought.

"Hmm…I guess we do, don't we? I'm sorry, Bella. I suppose it's because food, in general, and your enjoyment of it is fascinating, to us. I mean, when we are hungry, we can't just simply go into a kitchen and make a sandwich. We have to catch our meals. In a funny way, watching you eat is sort of relaxing, for me. I can have human moments, vicariously, through watching yours." Her eyes took on a distant look, then and she added. "Sometimes, it's almost as if I can remember what it was like."

The tinge of sadness I found in her voice was somewhat sobering to me. I could tell that it really bothered her, being able to see into the future but lacking the ability to remember her own past.

"You aren't missing much, Alice," I said, trying to be comforting. I mean, being human isn't really all that great." Looking down at myself, I added, "Hell…being kind of human isn't really all that great, either."

"You are probably right," she said. It just would have been nice to know, I think."

She smiled at me, then. It was a sad little smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, but I could tell that she was trying, for my sake, to look cheerful. Somehow, that made it all the more heartbreaking for me.

"Really, I mean it, though." I said, emphatically. "When you are human, you have to deal with all the messy things like eating several times a day and then there's the issue of having to use the bathroom… Or worse, traveling and suddenly realizing that you have to go to the bathroom when there isn't one available for miles!"

She actually giggled a little bit at that one. Empowered by her response, I continued.

"And, don't get me started about periods! You should be thankful that you don't remember those. Yuck! Plus, you can't go anywhere really fast. You can't even drive as fast because your reflexes wouldn't be fast enough to drive the way you do now, as a vampire. We get old. We get wrinkly. We can kill ourselves just by falling down, for crying out loud!"

My plan to make her focus on the negativity of human life seemed to be working as her eyes began to sparkle with their usual, playful light. I could have stopped there. And, I should have. But, I was on a role.

"And, on top of it all, you only have so much time to try and do everything and you can only hope and pray that you get it right the first time around because if you don't you have to spend the rest of your life wondering if you made the right choice. And, then, what if you hadn't? You might find yourself old and alone and regretful because you've run out of time and it's too late to go back and make things right."

Alice's smile slowly faded as she realized at the exact moment I did that I was no longer talking about things she shouldn't miss. Somewhere along the line, I had begun talking about me.

I blanched, and mentally kicked myself for letting my mind wander down that road. _What the hell is wrong with me, anyway? _Up until this very minute I'd been having a great time… Suddenly, I didn't feel so well. I just wanted to go to sleep.

"Oh, Bella," Alice sighed. I could tell that the tables had turned and she was preparing to be the comforter rather than the comfortee. "Jacob will always be your friend, you know."

"Yeah, sure," I snapped. "Because I have always been such a great friend to him, after all. That's why he dumped me on my butt in the middle of the woods and ran from me like his tail was on fire."

I closed the pizza box and walked over to stuff the rest into the refrigerator.

"You know what, Alice? This is all Edward's fault!"

Alice just stared at me and said nothing.

"If he hadn't been so jealous and sneaky and…and…stupid, I would still be at home with everyone! And… Just, where _is_ he, anyway? He hasn't even called me! He was so worried that he was going to lose me forever that he told this horrible, horrible lie, but he can't even be bothered to pick up the damn phone? Has he always been like this? And, if so… Couldn't someone have _told_ me?"

"Edward has always been…emotional," Alice replied, softly. "But, I didn't know he was going to do what he did. Maybe it was because it involved Jacob, personally… Maybe it was because I was distracted by other things… I don't know. I just didn't. I would have stopped him, if I knew, Bella. I'm sorry."

I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my fingers to my temples. My head was starting to throb, now.

"It's not your fault," I told her. "You have nothing to apologize about. Edward did it all by himself. But, I love him, Alice," I said. "I love him so much. You know, I used to believe that I couldn't live without him. But, this isn't the first time he's run off, regardless of the reasons why. And, because of this, I've learned that I _can_ live without him. I never would have chosen it to be that way, on my own, but I can. Maybe I should be glad that he did it. How else would I have ever known? I just wish he had done it sooner. I wish he had never come back the first time, at all… And I wish…I wish…"

I shook my head, and bit back my words. I wasn't going to say it. I wouldn't dare let those words come out of my mouth. My happy buzz had completely vanished. And now I just felt raw.

"I'm sorry, Alice," I said with a heavy sigh. "I think I need to go to bed."

Walking into the bedroom, I headed over to the window on the far side of the room and slid it open, allowing the cool air to flow inside. I stood there, for a moment and watched the thin sheers between the curtains as they billowed and fluttered with each gust of wind. The breeze felt nice, against my skin.

I recalled how opening the window, before I went to bed, used to be a nightly ritual; a silent invitation for Edward to come inside and stay with me, while I slept. I would lie there, waiting, full of anticipation and when he would finally arrive and wrap me in his arms, I felt as if had landed inside the pages of a fairy tale. But this wasn't the way fairy tales were supposed to end. The frog was supposed to turn into a prince not the other way around. And, the heroine wasn't supposed to end up alone in her tower. Where was my knight?

Turning away from the window, I made quick work of changing out of my clothes and into an over-sized t-shirt before heading back over to the bed and crawling inside the covers. Once there, I switched off the lamp and turned my attention back to the open window.

Shortly, thereafter, darkness overtook me.

_And I was in the woods, again. Twigs snapped beneath my bare feet and the wind whipped through my hair as I ran. My final destination was unknown to me, but the desire to reach it was urgent, pushing me onward through the cold and the damp. I had to get there. I knew that once I did, I would be safe._

_I chanced a look behind me and screamed clawed its way out of my throat._

_The forest was being swallowed up into a great blackness, foot by foot the trees would wink out of existence as quickly as if someone had just flipped a switch and the shadow was gaining on me. _

"_No, no, no…not like this! C'mon Bella," I told myself, "You've got to move!"_

_I forced my legs to go faster, I could feel the wicked chill of the air cutting into my lungs, escaping back into the night in thick plumes of mist with every exhale and trailing behind me and reclaiming its place along with the rest of the fog._

_Ahead of me, I heard the rustle and crack of branches and caught a glimpse of something huge cutting across the path. Something huge, rust in color and furry._

_Something like a wolf. But not just any wolf._

_My wolf._

"_Jake!" I called out to him, but he didn't seem to hear me. He continued running westward from me, most likely also running from the nothingness that was claiming everything in its path._

"_Jacob, wait!" I tried again, but to no avail. My legs were failing me. As strong as I had become, I still had my limitations and I could feel the strength draining from my body. This was it. I knew it. I was going to blink out like a light._

_It would be as though I had never existed._

_Suddenly, someone stepped right into my path leaving me no time to turn, or stop and crashed into the person who had a body which was as soft and unyielding as an iron wall. Before I could sink to the ground, strong familiar arms caught me by the elbows and held me up. Those familiar arms were accompanied by a familiar voice, as well._

"_Bella, my darling," his voice flowed like honey from a well. "Are you hurt?"_

_Edward…Edward was here._

_I looked up and gazed into his beautiful, topaz eyes and nearly forgot about the shadow which had been following me. Nearly, but not quite._

_Finding my voice I tried to warn him of the danger that he seemed so oblivious to._

"_Edward, we have to run! There's something coming; something terrible. We need to go now!"_

_His eyes left mine and looked past me, into the woods and he actually smiled._

"_Something terrible, you say? I don't see anything so terrible."_

_I looked behind me, and noticed that the shadow had ceased its advance, but it was still there. The forest ended about 75 feet away from us, leaving nothing but a black void in its wake. The blackness seemed to swell and ebb as if it was breathing and somehow I knew it was alive and waiting. For what, I didn't know. But, I also didn't want to find out._

"_What do you mean, Edward?" I asked, my voice rising, "Can't you see? The forest, it's gone! Everything it touches disappears!" I searched his eyes, frantically, trying to make him understand the urgency of the situation._

"_No, Bella," Edward's voice was low, colored with a touch of amusement. He stroked my face with his hand, tucking some of my wild, windswept hair behind my ear._

"_It's not gone. It's just…hidden."_

"_Edward, I think you're wrong… I'm scared. I want to get out of here. And, Jacob's out here, too… We all need to go--_

"_Yes, you're right, Jacob is here," he replied. But, don't worry about him. He'll be fine. But, he won't bother us, anymore."_

_As he said this, I felt him tighten his grip on my arms, lifting me just inches off of my feet and then he began to walk, carrying me back toward the emptiness that I had been fleeing from._

"_Edward! No! Stop it! You don't know what you're doing!" _

"_Hush now, Bella. Everything will be just fine," he purred into my ear. "Don't you trust me?"_

_His eyes had grown dark and there was a gleam within them like I had never seen. _

"_How am I supposed to trust you, when you are forcing me into something that I don't want to do?" I hissed. I don't want to go in there! I don't want to disappear!"_

_I could feel the panic threatening to overwhelm me, my body was acting on autopilot and I continued to fight and struggle in Edward's arms._

"_Oh, Bella, my love," he crooned. "Must you always worry so? Haven't I always taken care of you?"_

_My thoughts began to race. What was it that he said? Not gone, just missing? Jacob won't be bothering us, anymore? And, just like that, it clicked_

_Edward was going to hide me away like some kind of prized possession._

_Realizing that fighting him was futile and I was going to need to find another way to try and get out of this. I took several deep breaths and attempted to sound calm. "Edward," I said, "You're right. You have always looked out for me. You can put me down, now."_

"_No," he replied. "I can't, love. You might slip. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you." He continued his slow, lazy pace toward the end of the woods. I could actually hear it breathing, now._

"_I won't, Edward," I insisted. "And, I have you here to catch me, even if I did. Please, Edward. I'm sorry that I acted that way. I was just scared. Let me walk with you."_

_At last, he stopped. He pulled back far enough to look me in the eye and just stared for a while. I could tell by his expression that he didn't trust me and I did my best to smile up at him, sweetly. Several more seconds passed before I finally felt my feet touch the ground. Tentatively, he loosened his hold on my arms, and returned my smile as one of his hands slid down my arm to my hand, where he laced his fingers with mine._

"_Alright," he said. I'm sorry that I scared you." He nodded, gesturing toward the blackness which loomed behind me and added, "Together, then?" To which, I nodded in response, turning to face the thing I still feared while willing my body not to betray my panic._

"_Together."_

_To further prove my feigned change of heart, I gave Edward's hand a gentle squeeze and began to walk back the way I had come, pulling him along beside me. I heard him sigh, as though relieved and noted that the void swelled and ebbed along with the sound of Edward's breath before it, too, began to creep forward to meet us._

_Slowly, as we grew nearer, I began to see the shape of something else, within those depths, but I couldn't quite make it out. I could feel Edward's fingers relax in my hold, confident that I had succumbed to_ reason _and that I was completely on board with his plan and I began to walk faster, pulling ahead and hoping that he took my burst of speed as excitement, rather than a preparation for flight. We were only a few yards away now. The void yawned wide and a wind picked up, sucking nearby leaves into the hole and tugging on my hair. Conveniently, there was a loud crack from behind us, like the sound of a tree snapping. I felt Edward halt, briefly as if startled. I didn't waste time to look and see for myself though. I quickly whipped my fingers from his, and bolted away from him._

"_Bella!" I barely heard Edward's shout as, simultaneously, the void emitted a near deafening bellow of rage._

_I headed into the trees as fast as I could and began to dodge to and fro between them in a haphazard, maze, trying to head in the general direction of the one person I could think of who might have a chance of stopping Edward before he could catch me again._

"_Jake!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, "Jake, can you hear me?! I need help! _

_From behind, I could hear Edward's voice mocking me in a cruel and unfamiliar whine. "Oh, Jacob save me! Help me, please!" _

_The wind began to tug against me as I ran, slowing my pace and causing my feet to lose purchase on the ground. From far away I heard another voice._

"_Bella?" _

"_Jake! Yes, it's me! Hurry! It's Edward… He's lost his mind!"_

"_Oh please, darling," Edward's voice came to me, again, as if it was being carried by the wind that tore at me. The sarcastic sneer was gone, replaced with a tone of longing and frustration._

"_Must you be so melodramatic? Why must you do this to us? It's because of the wolf. It's always been the damned wolf. Can't you see what he's doing? He's poisoned you against me, Bella..."_

"_Bella…I hear you." Jacob called to me. I could barely pick up his voice over the howl of the wind which had grown fierce, along with Edward's voice which rode upon its current. He spoke again and his words must have been jumbled up, because the question I heard didn't make sense to me at all._

"_Why can I hear you?" was followed by, "Where are you?"_

"_I'm here, in the woods!" I shouted back to him. "God, please, Jacob! I can't hold on much longer… It's too strong!"_

"_Hold on," Jacob's voice came back louder, clearer this time. Almost as if it were right inside my head, which was bazaar to say the least, but considering the freakish situation I had landed in, I didn't question it. "I'm coming," he finished._

"_I'm trying!" I shouted back and, it was true. The wind had grown so strong that I could no longer run away. I was holding on to the branch of a tree, fighting for dear life just to keep my feet on the ground. Leaves, fallen branches and other various articles of forest debris were flying past me and into the vacuum created by the void. I knew my time had all but run out._

_The sky grew dark as if one by one all the stars had winked out of the sky. I squinted against the wind and looked up to see the moon disappear behind a curtain of inky blackness._

"_I may have lost my mind," Edward's voice sighed. "But, I will not lose my wife. Not like this. Not to him."_

_I looked down at my feet and was shocked to see that the ground I had been standing on had changed into a soft rounded mound. The branch that I had been clinging to was no longer a branch at all, but a tombstone which bore my maiden name._

"_You belong with me, Bella," Edward said. "You are my wife, forsaken to all others and dead to the rest of the world, as I am."_

_And, with those words, the blackness engulfed me, completely and the ground beneath my feet crumbled away, pulling me, screaming and clawing, into the earth where I fell and fell…_

_And fell._

_Suddenly, I heard Jacob's voice, not as I did before, but clear and so close to my ear that I could imagine the feel of his breath against my skin._

"_I got you!" _

I woke with a startled scream and realized that I was no longer in my bed, but clutching tightly to bare shoulders of the person who's strong arms were wrapped securely around me, cradling me against his chest and rocking me like a child.

"It's okay, Bells. I've got you," Jacob said, again.

"How? How did you…?" I couldn't finish the question as tears sprang from my eyes and I buried my head against his warm shoulder.

He ran his fingers through my hair and rested his cheek against my head and said, "I heard you. I don't know how…But, I heard you."

"I'm so sorry, I sobbed. I'm so--"

"Stop right there," Jacob's voice was gentle, but firm. "I don't want to talk about that. In fact, I don't want to talk about anything. Can you…Just let me hold you, for once, okay?"

I sniffed and nodded weakly and wrapped my arms tighter around him. I didn't know why he was here, or how he was here. All I cared about was that he was and I sure wasn't about to risk ruining it. Be it from a dream or not, I noted that being caught by Jacob was a hell of a lot better than him dropping me on my ass. I was however surprised, when he whispered to me, as if in response to my thoughts.

"I'll always catch you, Bells."

"Always."

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_**I'm going to take a moment to pitch the forum, again. If you have questions, or want sneak peeks of upcoming chapters, come check out the forum for Turn of Events at www (dot) Twilighted (dot) net**_


	19. Chapter 18

_**A/N: Okay guys this one is pretty short, but I figured that we needed to hear a little Jacob POV before I continued further. For the record, I want to make it clear that I am NOT throwing Edward under the bus. This may be a Jake/Bella story, but I always hate it when Edward disappears without a trace with no rhyme or reason. It just doesn't ring true to me. There's no closure when that happens and this story isn't that simple, anyway.**_

_**I want to take a moment to thank all my readers for sticking with me, so far. I know it's taking a long time to get anywhere serious but I promise that I will do everything in my power to make it all worth it, in the long run.**_

_**One last thing, to my reviewers, THANK YOU SO MUCH! You all have turned me into a complete and total review whore. Please, please keep it up because I would really hate to have to check myself into some kind of recovery program.**_

_**Okay. I'm all done. Without any further ado, I give you chapter 18.**_

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Jacob

This whole imprinting thing wasn't anything like I had expected.

Through the joined pack mind I had experienced the effects of imprinting and the emotions that go with it, long before it ever happened to me and never, never have I heard of anything like this. Nothing had prepared me for what I had begun to experience on my way here.

It was weird enough that I seemed to have this invisible leash tied around my neck, where she was concerned. I'd already found out from our last face to face encounter that I could use that link to track her anywhere. No one else that I knew had that sort of connection with their imprint, but, to be able to hear her thoughts? To see what she saw in her dream?

I was halfway here, when it started. First, I heard her calling me and then the visions followed, shortly, thereafter.

I thought I had finally lost it. I really did. But, I couldn't ignore it. It was exactly the way it is with the pack when we are in wolf form. Only, Bella isn't pack. And, I sure as hell wasn't phased.

There is some difference though. When the pack runs together, we hear everything, even things that we don't want to hear. Nothing is sacred. But, sitting here with Bella, now, I don't hear anything at all. It all started with her calling my name, though… So, does that mean that the same connection that draws me to her, also makes it possible for us to reach other mentally, at will? It was all so strange; I couldn't wrap my mind around it.

When I reached the hotel grounds, I not only could hear her in my mind, but her cries found their way to my ears as well, making it pretty easy to find which room she was in.

I knew that I couldn't very well just break through the door in a hotel without being noticed, so I had to get in through the window which, thankfully, was open. Of course, upon coming through it, I found myself face to face with the pixie.

Surprisingly, instead of flipping out or holding her nose and complaining about stinking dogs and so forth, she just stared at me intently, for what felt like forever, even though I'm sure only a few seconds had passed before she moved out of my way, saying, "I'm going to go downstairs, now," then adding over her shoulder, as she strode out through the doorway, "I won't be far."

Bella was crying and thrashing about, in her sleep and I knew she was trying desperately to find anything to grab hold of that would stop her fall. As a result, however, she managed to flip herself right out of the bed and I made it through the window and across the small space just in time to catch her, before she hit the floor.

The world can really turn you on your head in a blink of an eye.

Less than two hours ago I was arguing with Leah on the beach, defending my reasons for avoiding Bella altogether and now here I find myself, in a hotel room, sitting on her bed, holding her in my arms, her tears drying on my skin and wondering where I ever found the strength to let her go in the first place.

I didn't want to talk about why I was here, because I didn't know how to answer her, truthfully, without laying myself open. I had slipped already, telling her that I would always be there to catch her_. Ugh… I probably sounded like some wanna-be, poetic idiot._ I decided that if she questioned me about that, later, I would tell her about how I caught her, falling off the bed and leave it at that. I mean, I couldn't exactly tell her that I was in dream-land with her and all. Not without revealing more than I intend to, right now. But would she buy it? How was that going to sound?

"_Oh, well, I was just in the neighborhood and decided to come by and say hi, when I heard you screaming, so I climbed a tree, scaled a drain-pipe, crawled through your window and caught you, just as you fell out of bed. You should be thankful and repay me with a lifetime of servitude…" _

Yeah, that sounds pretty lame.

The idea of lying to her at all was unsettling to me, anyway. I mean, I wouldn't really be lying. I would just be omitting. There's a big difference, right?

Another thing I had learned, while running with the pack was that it was next to impossible for a wolf to lie to his imprint if he was confronted with a direct question and frankly, I had a hard time lying to Bella, anyway.

I was going to have to be very careful.

I listened to Bella's breathing, and marveled at the feel of her heartbeat thudding against my ribs and wondered again what had happened to make her so obviously different, and yet so remarkably alive. I supposed there would be time to talk about it, later, though. And, speaking of breathing and heartbeats, it seemed that Bella had calmed down, significantly. Maybe a bit more than I had expected, because—

_Was that a snore?_

I pulled back, just a little so that I could see her face, and sure enough, she had fallen back asleep in my arms. Her smell was off too. She smelled like the perfect combination of a fruit market and a distillery.

I couldn't help but smile a little. Bella had been drinking. And, by the smell of it, she'd had a lot.

The last thing in the world I wanted was for her to wake up, again and freak out because she had forgotten everything, so I picked her up again, and walked to the other side of the bed, with the intention of putting her back into it, only to find myself grinning again, when she refused to let go.

"Okay, Bells," I whispered, "You've gotta let go, so I can get you covered up."

Her head lolled on the pillow, her eyes moved back and forth, lazily under her lids and her lower lip went out just a bit, forming a stubborn little pout. It was so damn cute! I knew that was going to be stuck in my head for days and the pack was going to be giving me shit about it, for sure.

"I dun wanna," she slurred. "I miss… my Jacob."

"I miss you too, honey," I told her, "But, this is kind of uncomfortable." And, it was true. You try being as tall as I am, and leaning over a bed, with someone's arms locked around your neck!

"Nope," she replied, in her sleepy voice. "If I leggo, yer gun leave… Everbody leaves."

This was it; the moment that I had been dreading, all along; the moment that her wounded spirit and lack of confidence would pull on my heart-strings and break my will, thus making it hers and, she wasn't' even fully conscious. She could always do that, so easily. And, yet, I found that I was angry. Not at her, but at the bastard who made her this way, to begin with.

The girl lying in this bed with her arms locked around my neck, like an anchor, was not the same girl I grew up knowing; the girl who would wait until I had made the most perfect sand castle and then kick it, just to make me cry so that she could pretend that it was an accident and hug me, afterward, because she knew that I couldn't stay mad at her when she did. It was one of her favorite games when we were little kids.

It was a mean game, granted. But, we were little and little kids play mean, little games. The point is that she did it because she knew that she could get away with it.

She knew, even then, that I loved her.

But now, here she was, more asleep than awake, holding on to me like a vice for fear that I would just vanish into thin air, if she let go.

It made me sick.

This never should have happened to her. This never should have happened to us. If Cullen had kept his mitts off of her from the beginning, none of this ever would have taken place. James and Victoria would never have targeted her, She would have never have been, hunted, bitten, terrified and nearly killed three times and would never have known what it felt like to be abandoned because _I_ would _never_ have done that to her. Ever.

And, what about me? I wouldn't be standing in the position, right now, of having to hide the fact that I imprinted from her. I wouldn't have been torn over how I fit into her life. Hell, if he had stayed farther away, I may never have become a werewolf at all, either.

Okay, so that last one was questionable, due to my heritage and all, but still…

And, where was the leech now? It was obvious that this room was no stranger to vampires, but his scent was nowhere, which told me that he still had not returned from wherever it was he vanished to, this time.

I had hated him and I had envied him. I envied his money and his charm and the ease in the way that he walked through this world, among humans, without a care when even I, a member of said lineage, could not even do as much. But, most of all, I envied the fact that he had taken my Bella's heart away from me, before I ever even had a chance to be in the running.

Surprisingly, however, in the midst of my anger, I found myself feeling something I had never, ever expected to feel toward Edward Cullen.

Pity.

He had left her now, not once but twice. And, he couldn't claim that he had done so for noble reasons, this time around. I think he left because he is afraid.

It wasn't enough that Bella told him that he was her everything. It wasn't enough that he married her, taking Bella Swan out of the world and leaving Bella Cullen in her place. He had to eliminate her from the market, more specifically _my_ market, completely by making me think she was dead.

He'd totally disregarded everything that Bella told him, because he was more focused on me and my intentions. That's pretty pathetic, now that I think about it. And, now that he knows that the cat, or in this case, the wolf is out of the bag, he can't face it.

He is married to the most wonderful girl in the world, and he can't even stick around long enough to put up a fight for her?

You know what, I take it back. I don't pity him at all! He doesn't deserve my pity. He's probably off somewhere, perfecting his emo face.

"I'm not going anywhere, Bells," I told her, lifting her back up and reaching down, to pull the blankets back before settling her back down, this time, climbing in beside her. "I'm staying right here."

Bella sighed and snuggled in, laying her head on my shoulder and relinquishing her hold on my neck, letting her fingertips burn a trail down my chest until her palm came to rest, over my heart.

I closed my eyes and pretended not to notice when Alice re-entered the hotel room, although I was perfectly aware that she realized I knew. We didn't exactly smell pretty to one another, after all.

"Love you, Jacob," Bella mumbled softly, in the same care-free kind of way that we used to exchange those words, during a time when we were just Jake and Bells, hanging out in the garage or walking along the beach, causing my heart that she held under her hand to swell with emotion.

It seemed appropriate that her hand was there, although I doubted that she had any idea of how literally she held it. It had, after all, always been hers.

"Love you too, Bells," I whispered and brought my own hand up to stroke her arm, reassuringly.

It was at that moment that I felt Alice leave the room, too quiet for human ears; I heard the bedroom door close with the softest click.

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_**Okay guys, please leave a review and let me know what you think.**_

_**:-)  
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	20. Chapter 19

_A/N: Sorry this one took so long to get out there. I have some serious RL stuff going on, but I promise that I'm going to keep updating. It's just not always as quickly as I would like, since I don't get as much writing time in as I used to._

_Mad props go out to my good friend, Leelator, for helping me get through a tough spot in the beginning of this chapter. She deserves some major hugs!_

The sky was barely showing the first tell-tale signs of dawn, when Jacob awoke with a start to a familiar, sickly-sweet smell. His head snapped around to its source, his eyes taking in the tiny, little body which was practically hopping with impatience, a mere six inches from his nose.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to see the two of you, like this?" her little wind-chime voice whispered furiously into his ear.

Jacob's face tensed and his eyes narrowed as he stared like a laser into golden eyes that sparkled with anger. "Get out. _Now!" _he hissed back, furious. How _dare_ that bloodsucker invade Bella's room and question him at the break of dawn?!

Alice retreated a step, as though startled, but quickly regaining her composure, she clenched her jaw and pointed a finger in his face, she whispering, fiercely, "We need to talk _now_, dog! Neither one of us wants to wake Bella up, but you've got exactly sixty seconds before I come back in here and haul your hairy behind out of that bed, personally!"

With that, she darted out of the room, practically vibrating with irritation.

Jacob deliberately turned his face away from Alice's retreating back and allowed himself to savor the moment of waking up with Bella in his arms. Doing so seemed to let him regain some peace he'd felt before Alice's intrusion.

He lay there a few seconds longer, watching Bella's lashes twitch in response to the movements of her eyes, as she lay dreaming and decided that he could endure just about anything if this was the first sight he could be greeted with, each and every morning.

He actually smiled a little before he began the slow and careful process of untangling himself from Bella's limbs without waking her.

Soundlessly, he crossed the bedroom towards the door, knowing that Alice would be waiting in the adjoining room.

He found her pacing energetically, her arms crossed and her fingers tapping. Irritated, he leaned against a door frame, crossing his own arms and waited. As soon as she saw him, Alice stalked over to face him, her knuckles planted firmly on her slender hips.

"You really have no idea, do you mutt? God, it's almost impossible for me to look at the two of you in that room, knowing what you are!" Alice lashed out angrily, her eyes flashing as she stared at him.

Taking a moment to reign in his inner wolf and its natural desire to explode at such an in-your-face encounter with the little vampire who was invading his personal space, Jacob took care to speak calmly as he countered her statement with a question of his own.

"Is it so hard for you because of _what _I am, Alice? Or is it really because of _who_ I am?"

Narrowing her eyes until they pierced into his like a pair of daggers, she spat her response as though she had just tasted something foul.

"Both."

Jacob closed his eyes, momentarily, as he shook his head in exasperation, wondering why he ever would have expected anything less.

"Then stay the hell out," he retorted, flat out. "Nobody invited you in there, anyway. And, just where do you get off, invading people's rooms at 5 A.M. anyhow?"

"I happened to be worried about Bella, for your information! She happens to be my sister, in case you failed to notice and, having a werewolf sleeping next to her isn't making me any less concerned," her tiny fists clenched.

"Well, don't worry, Alice," Jacobs voice dripped, honey sweet with feigned concern. "If I get hungry, at least _I_ won't eat her for an hors d'oeuvres!"

Her eyes rolled in irritation. "You are a werewolf; a young, immature werewolf, pup, and I still happen to worry about the nature of your kind. That's not a dig, mind you. I'm just being honest. In fact, I'd say that one look at your former Alpha's girlfriend is a pretty fair example of why I'm concerned."

Jacob's answer came through gritted teeth. "I would never hurt Bella,"

"I'm certain that Sam felt exactly the same way about Emily, too," Alice snapped, "I'm sure that not a day goes by that he doesn't look at her and feel terrible about what occurred. But that doesn't change the fact that he can never take back what he did to her."

"You don't know everything about us," Jacob shot back at her. "Sam was new when that happened. Unlike the rest of us, he was all alone and had no one to help him cope with phasing, no one to teach him. It takes time to learn to control it. And, believe me, Alice; I've had time."

Sighing in disgust, he ran his fingers through his hair before he continued. "You know, Alice, for someone who has fought alongside me, you give me very little credit. If ever I was prone to losing it and attacking someone I shouldn't, it would have been while we were fighting off the newborn leeches because, eghem," he cleared his throat and looked at Alice, pointedly, "you _all_ smell the same to me. Oh, and uh," he raised his fingers to indicate quotations, "that's not a dig, either."

Alice's foot started tapping in rhythm with her restless fingers. "Alright, you got me there," Alice admitted. "I can't deny your point. But, there's still the other matter. It's not so much about who you are as it is about who you're not. She's married to my _brother -"_

"Who left her, yet, again," Jacob interjected.

"As I was saying," she continued with an air of exasperation, "I know Edward happens to be acting like a complete and total ass right now, but he is still my brother and I love him. And I _don't _want to see him hurt because of _you_."

He snorted, "You don't actually expect me to feel sympathy for the son of a bitch, do you, Alice?"

She quieted all of her movement, her little face solemn. "Bella is just as much a part of my family as he is and after what he has done to her, if I have to choose sides, I choose hers. But that doesn't mean that Edward's suffering pains me, any less."

Alice had found herself pacing the floor, during Jacob's rant, which ended with her standing across the room. Squaring her shoulders, she walked back up to him, stared him in the face and paused. "There's something else I have to say," she murmured and hesitated, seeming to have trouble for once, speaking what was on her mind. "I'm sorry, Jacob," she sighed.

Alice looked Jacob right in the eye and although she did not elaborate immediately, she did not miss the little wince, the tightening around the corners of Jacob's eyes that told her that he understood exactly what she was apologizing for.

"You should be."

Alice continued, "I am. It's been bothering me for some time now because I was the one who promised that we would send word about Bella, that night. Had I known what Edward was going to do, I would have come to you myself, instead."

"And yet, you are supposed to be this great fortune teller," came Jacob's bitter retort. "You see things happening left and right where you and your family are concerned but when it comes to something outside of your little bubble, you just conveniently miss it, huh?"

His words stung as surely as if he had reached across the table and slapped her, because she had to admit to herself that, to some degree, he was right. The tiny face fell. She did miss things, sometimes. The future was always open to change, especially when depending on the actions and interference of others. But, frankly, she wasn't looking. And if she was to be completely honest with herself, she would have to own up to the fact that, she hadn't really wanted to.

"Unfortunately I've been missing many things, lately." She turned away from him, unnerved by the intensity of his stare. "I can only imagine what you must have felt," she murmured, with a slight shake of her head.

Jacob ground his teeth until they hurt. What he really wanted to say was that she couldn't possibly imagine, couldn't even have a clue what he had went through. Not when he had sat for days with no word, not when he finally received that pathetic letter… And, she sure as hell couldn't have known how it felt to just see her, one evening, just… Blam! Out of nowhere, running around in the dark like a ghost in a dream… But, he held it all in, keeping it to himself.

"Whatever you are thinking, Alice," Jacob's voice had a strained quality to her ears, "It wouldn't come close. Don't even try."

She nodded then, her focus settling on the tense line of his jaw.

"She really means a lot to you, doesn't she?" she posed this as a question, but they both knew that it was more of an observation to which no reply was required. "I mean, truly," she added, softly.

Alice paused to cast a quick glance behind her toward the bedroom door and lowered her voice, further. "Last night, while she was asleep, she started crying and I could tell that she was running from someone or something. I tried to wake her, but I couldn't. In fact, every time I touched her, she'd flinch away from me like I was hurting her and then she started calling for help. She was grasping and tearing at the covers and screaming your name and the next thing I know, there you are, climbing through the damn window."

Alice gave him a long, hard suspicious look. "I know a few things about Bella, now, that you don't," she spoke in a serious, even tone. "And for whatever reason, regardless of how I feel about it, it's plain to see that Bella needs you." With a shrug, her shoulders slumping in resignation, she sighed, "Who am I to stand in the way of what she wants? She is an adult with her own mind and, as her sister and I will respect her decisions."

Abruptly, Alice's mood seemed to change, brightening as though someone had flipped a switch as she quickly stood, grabbing the handle of her bag and nodding, again, toward the bedroom before walking across the room to the door.

"She's waking up and I've got a meeting to attend," she told him, cheerily.

Opening the door she looked back inside to offer her parting words with a sweet smile.

"You'd probably better go back in there with her before she thinks you've left. Oh, and Jacob? Just because I stand behind Bella doesn't mean I'm not going to be watching you. You hurt her and I'll have you neutered."

Carlisle and Esme read over the book until there was nothing left but several blank and empty pages.

Although the information held within was disturbing, they still were uncertain what any of this has to do with Bella, specifically.

The sun had risen in the sky and was filtering through the large glass windows, reflecting off of Esme's hand which glittered and shone more brilliantly, under those rays than the diamond wedding ring that she wore upon it. Carlisle found himself mesmerized by her beauty no less today than when he had first proposed. His trip down memory lane was short lived, however; interrupted by the sound of new voices downstairs.

The company that Alice had spoken of, last night had finally arrived.

As he and Esme descended the stairs, Valentino's smooth voice greeted him, warmly as if they were old friends, rather than people who had met under strained and unusual circumstances. He crossed the room at a comfortable pace, meeting them halfway across the room, and extending his hand to Esme, first.

"Carlisle, you sly dog,! Why, you didn't tell me that your wife was so lovely," he purred, with a not-so-subtle wink.

"With all due respect," Carlisle's replied, "it is my assumption that this is not the first time you have seen her, since you knew quite well who I was upon our meeting."

"Ah, this is very true," Valentino conceded with a wistful sigh, "But only at a distance, which hardly does her beauty justice, if you don't mind my saying so."

Leaving no room for Carlisle to respond, Valentino changed topics, quickly, gesturing toward the other visitor and stated, "Of course, you already know my cousin, Adolfo."

Adolfo nodded and shifted from foot to foot, looking quite uncomfortable. "It's a beautiful home, you have here," he said, with a nervous smile.

"So," Valentino continued on, "I assume that you have read through the book I gave you last night, and will have many questions for us to answer, so where would you like to start?"

At this moment, the front door opened, and Alice stepped through it with a bright smile. "How about you start by telling them what happened to Azurra," she chirped, earning herself a quizzical look from the two visitors.

"That's right, buddy," she confirmed, clapping Valentino soundly on the shoulder, "You aren't the only one here with talents. Shall we?" She asked, as she danced her way into the living room.

Valentino followed after her nudging Adolfo with a bemused grin. "I think I like this one, Wolfie. She's spunky!"

Once they and the rest of the household were seated, Valentino sobered, focusing his attention, once more, on Carlisle, who began the meeting.

"The book indicated that Caius and his team came back, not only empty handed, but that Caius had sustained substantial injuries as well. There was, however nothing more to be read afterward."

"Yes, that is all that I was able to copy before I came," Valentino agreed. "You see, it was I who implanted the idea for Aro to send me to begin with. Had I not, he would have sent someone else, and things would be much different than they are, I am afraid." He nodded, grimly. "I did not expect him to act so quickly, and so I was unable to complete my transcription."

"You have heard of Caius's hatred of Werewolves and the reason behind it, have you not?"

"In brief," Carlisle confirmed. "I was told that he was nearly killed by one."

"Not one," Valentino disagreed, "There were several of them."

"How would you know this, and what does this have to do with Bella?" Esme, questioned him, impatiently.

"Because," Adolfo cleared his throat and looked about the room before resting his attention on Esme, "It is a story that has been passed down through generations in my family."

"In your family?" Esme repeated, softly.

Adolfo nodded, uncomfortably. It was obvious that, although he was not a stranger to crowds, he was unaccustomed to being the center or attention, especially under the scrutiny of a house full of vampires.

"I am," he paused to loosen the collar of his shirt, "a-"

"Oh, enough with this, I can't wait!" Alice interjected, excitedly. "Carlisle, Esme, He's a werewolf!"

"A werewolf?"

The room filled with murmers, as the family turned to each other, in their surprise.

"It's weird, I know!" Alice piped up, again. "You would never have guessed it, because we usually associate them with that awful dog smell! But, he's not like the La Push wolves. He's one of the old werewolves; the ones that can stand on two legs and everything." Her eyes, which sparkled with fascination, landed on Adolfo as she finished speaking.

Adolfo stared at the tiny vampire, wordlessly before cutting his eyes to Valentino, only to find him grinning like a mad man.

"Ooh, yes, Wolfie." He said aloud, "She's fun!"

"I'm sorry to have interrupted you," she said to Adolfo, in a manner that almost came across as shy. "I got carried away. My talents are usually confined to the future. This is the first time I have ever seen anything concerning the past. I promise to try and restrain myself from finishing for you." She nodded seriously, before skipping over to stand by Jasper's side.

Turning back to Carlisle, Adolfo sighed and began speaking, at last.

"What she says is true. I am a werewolf. I am assuming the usual smell she was referring to was for the _shape-shifters _of La Push. Which, I might add, only smell bad to you because their sole purpose for existing is to kill you, whereas we _werewolves _are only enemies to the vampire when they make it so."

Adolfo paused a moment to give his cousin that screamed of irritation before he continued.

"Obviously, I'm not exactly comfortable here. But, I came because my cousin requested my presence and so, here I am. My family, unfortunately, is one of the many whose relationships with vampires have been… for lack of better words, strained."

"But, if you are a werewolf," Emmet asked, "Then, how is it possible that this guy here is your cousin?"

Adolfo smiled sadly. "That, my friend, is another story. One that I'm sure you will hear, soon enough. But, for now, I guess I need to get the matter at hand, first. The matter which has to do with the missing pages of Aro's journal."

"Caius and the rest of his crew snuck into the camp that evening as planned, with the intention of kidnapping one of Mathius's children. They thought that they were in luck, as one of the boys was outside. What they were not expecting, however, was for a group of my ancestors to ambush them. Caius was the only one left who survived."

Valentino added, "The one thing that stood out the sharpest in Caius's mind was that the child just stood there, calmly. He was totally unafraid of the beasts that came out of the darkness and tore through him and his men and he realized with horror that these children were more than just the miraculous hybrids they had thought them to be. And, as he retold his story to Aro, he and the rest of the Volturi deemed them abominations that needed to be destroyed."

The family listened, silently as the two went back and forth, weaving the tale. Adolfo telling the side of his family's history, with Valentino filling in what he had gathered from the Volturi.

"Mathius," Adolfo explained, "wished to take Azzura away and flee, but she refused to leave her people behind. She was confident that, if the Volturi wanted them badly enough, they would follow them wherever they went. She felt it was better to remain and fight, if when the time came. Unfortunately, that time came sooner than later and, as Mathius had feared, the outcome was grim."

"It was a massacre. Huts and homes were torn through and burned, as they searched for Mathius and his family. Tthere was so much blood that the streets were filled with it. There were casualties, on both sides, of course, but the village was small, and already the Volturi's numbers were great. It was not long, before they found the home that they sought after and laid waste to Mathius and his family. But, not before Azzura cursed them all."

"You see," Valentino stepped in, once again, "What Aro and his band of sadists didn't realize was that Azzura's sister had left for the day, taking Mathius's youngest son with her. She could hear the screaming and see the smoke rising before she made it back to the village on that fateful evening and, having been made aware of the danger than may one day come, fled with the child and never returned."

Adolfo nodded as he resumed. "It is believed that she, never again mingled with her own people, choosing instead to raise this child as a human in order to keep the Volturi from discovering him. Not realizing, of course, that she was playing an important role in fulfilling Azzura's curse."

"What did this curse entail, exactly?" Carlisle asked, to which Valentino smiled.

"She told Aro, himself, that there would come a day when her children would rise from the ashes and hold the balance with the ability to put an end to the rule of our kind." He gestured between Carlisle and himself, concluding, "She said that even he, with his gifts, would not be able to hear or see it coming.

"But, I have to ask again," Esme pleaded, "This story is intriguing, although very sad. But, what does this have to do with our Bella?"

"Aro cannot hear her thoughts, nor can she be touched by the mental powers of anyone else, for one thing," Valentino pointed out. "That's quite a gift, even for a human. That alone piqued Aro's interest.

"That would explain why she couldn't be turned!" Alice exclaimed. The hybrid line was already in her blood and was just sort of… repressed, maybe, because of the generational gap?"

"I have noticed, myself," Adolfo added, "that she does bear a great many similarities to what has been described to me, of those children of long ago."

A thoughtful expression was upon Valentino's face as he seemed to contemplate something. He pulled a pen and a small pad of paper from his coat pocket and began to write in it. Finally, at long last, he turned to Alice, lifting the drawing for her to see and asked, "Tell me, little one… Does she bear a mark, perhaps, one similar to this?"

Alice gasped and offered a little nod, in response.

Valentino shared a nod between Adolfo and smiled at his audience.

"Well, well, Carlisle," he beamed, "It looks like we're all family here, after all. Your Bella _is_ our missing link.


	21. Chapter 20

_**A/N: PLEASE READ**_

_**Alright, first of all, I want to apologize to everyone who has been waiting forever for me to update on this. Even though life has been pretty crazy for me and I really have a legitimate excuse, I know how much it sucks to be waiting on the other end. So I hope y'all forgive me when I say I am so, so, sorry.**_

_**I also want to tell you a little something about this chapter before you read it.**_

_**You guys are going to find out a little bit about what has been going on with ol' Eddie and some of you may find yourself a bit irked at Jake when you get to the end of Edward's piece. Take a deep breath and keep in mind though that, in fic, things are not always what they seem to be upon first read. I can't tell you any more than that for now, but you guys will see what I mean before long. ;-)**_

_**Last but most definitely not least, I want to give a huge THANK YOU to all of you who have me on your alerts and who have left me such awesome reviews. You guys are the only thing that keeps me writing at all. You totally rock my socks.**_

_**~ Morrigan (Aka Morgania)**_

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He stood silent, alone and still, staring out at the thick blanket of snow that covered the hills. The way the moonlight shone upon the icy ground seemed to illuminate the earth in various shades of blue which, along with the cold, seemed to reflect his mood, perfectly.

Edward had thought that a visit with Denali coven would be the perfect escape from his woes until he was ready to return home and confront Bella, again. And, it had appeared, initially to him, that he had made the right decision. He had been welcomed, here, with eager hospitality and asked few questions. His 'cousins' were talkative and pleasant, which he assumed would go a long way toward shutting putting his own worries on the backburner. Alas, on the contrary, he found that staying in their midst only intensified his feelings of loneliness and self depreciation.

Although he had kept his cell phone turned off, there wasn't a single day that would pass that he would not check to see if his wife may have called for him and, as always, there would be many missed calls logged. But, he was always disappointed, although not surprised, to find that they were always from his family in Forks; mostly Carlisle or Alice, but never Bella.

He didn't know what he would say to her if she were to ever call him, but he felt that it would be easier to talk things through, if she were to reach out to him first. Although Edward felt that he didn't deserve it, he felt that her doing so would show him that she had the desire to hear his voice and that, in itself, might give him a thread of hope to hang on to. But, with each passing day, he felt that hope dwindling.

He had begun to wonder if he had ever known Bella at all. The girl that he had fallen in love with, the woman that he had married seemed so different to him now. He recalled the day that he had left her in the woods and how she had begged him to let her go with him, the fear in her eyes and how she so easily believe that he didn't want her. Even after all of that, fully believing in her heart that she would be leaving Italy alone, she had traveled halfway around the world to save him. He never thought that he would see the day that she would run from him.

Even when he told her what he had done to Jacob in order to keep her, he had expected tears, anger, maybe even a rough patch where he would have to eat crow and grovel while she unraveled the mess that he had made, leaving in it a pile at his feet for him to clean up. But, in the back of his mind, he thought that he would ultimately find forgiveness, even if it meant enduring some self humiliation.

When she made it plain, by her absence that she didn't want to see him, he figured that if he left and gave her the space that she needed, she would eventually calm down and call for him, when she was ready to talk things through. But, even after all this time had passed, she didn't.

So, a couple of weeks ago, in a moment of weakness he called her, himself. Not from his phone, of course, because she would know that it was him, but, from Tanya's phone. Hearing her voice from across the miles was bittersweet agony and he wanted more than anything to beg for her forgiveness. But, holding fast to his decision that his acceptance would come only on her terms, without his interference, he didn't speak a word, resigning himself to be lost, briefly, in the sound of her voice, her rhythmic breathing along with her faint but steady heartbeat through the phone line, until she hung up, severing the connection, along with his frozen heart.

It was something that had become a kind of ritual, for Edward. He would call, every couple of days or so, and listen to her sweet voice, feeling the sting of excess venom pooling in his eyes for those few seconds until the line went dead.

He began to wonder when he had become such a coward. This couldn't go on forever, he knew. One way or another, they would have to speak to each other, again, regardless of whether or not he was afraid of what she might say. And, frankly, he the strain of waiting was begin to wear on him more than the fear of possible finality.

And so, summoning up all the courage he could, he had stepped outside, with his own cell phone in hand and dialed her number. If she didn't answer, he would simply leave a message and wait. If she screamed at him, he would be patient and take it. If she cried, it would break his heart, but he could take that as well. If she told him that they were through and that she never wanted to see him again, he would do his best to be strong and pray that he had enough strength to let her go. He could do this. It had gone on for too long and it was time to have it out. He knew that he could do this. As the phone began to ring, he told himself that he would be prepared for anything.

He was wrong.

He was completely unprepared for the slightly amused voice that assaulted his hearing, taking him back through time to the first night that he believed his Bella was lost, to him, forever.

"Well, hello, Bloodsucker."

Edward froze, his eyes darkening, his face taking on a haunted expression as his fingers gripped his phone hard enough to leave a lasting impression upon its outer casing. He floundered, mentally, trying to wrap his mind around the realization of who had just casually answered his wife's personal phone, his emotions swirling tumultuously over the possible meaning that this simple action implied. He found that he was, momentarily, incapable of forming words.

The last voice he was prepared to hear was that of Jacob Black.

* * *

Bella

I awoke, blinking against thin rays of light which were filtering in through the spaces between the heavy, drawn curtains and managing to, somehow, all shine directly in my face.

Again.

I decided that I was going to have to do something about this. The sun didn't shine often in Forks. But, when it did, it was always through my window.

With a groan, I pulled the covers over my head to shield my eyes from those offensive little sunbeams, while memories of last night's evens came back to me.

Drinking, dancing and singing for the entire hotel to hear, scarfing pizza like it was ambrosia from heaven, trying to make Alice feel better about her loss of humanity only to start freaking out about Edward… Again, only to stomp, childishly, off to bed where I had the pleasure of experiencing, yet, another wonderful nightmare where he played the starring role. God, I am so dramatic!

But there was more to it, this time, wasn't there? Allowing myself to relive the dream until the difference I was searching for came rushing back so clearly I found myself amazed that I had nearly forgotten it, to begin with. For the first time I could ever recall, my dream ended on a high note.

Just as I thought that all hope was lost, Jacob had saved me.

He had saved me and I had fallen back to sleep in his arms, right here in this very bed.

Now that I had reclaimed the memory from my post alcohol soaked brain, it was so vivid; I felt as if it had really happened. But, surely, it hadn't. I mean, what was the likelihood of it, in reality? The last time I saw Jake, I had thrown myself at him, climbing and clawing at him like some kind of a desperate, drowning cat in heat until, in an act of self preservation, he had dumped me on my sorry ass and run from me like I was the devil, him – well, in this case, _her_self and I hadn't heard a word from him since. The chances of him just showing up, late in the evening and sauntering through the door just in time to wake me from a nightmare; a nightmare in which I had been screaming for his help, even, was pretty far-fetched, to say the least.

It was not surprising that Jacob had finally made his way into my dreams, though. Despite the way things went down the last time we spoke, I missed him terribly. Knowing this didn't change the strange feeling I had that if I rolled over and looked behind me, I would find him there, beside me. This was silly, of course. There was no way that I could be laying so close to such heat without being able to feel it, but the urge was there, all the same. I resisted, however, because I wasn't ready for my bubble to burst, just yet.

"Good morning, sleepy-head."

I gasped and jumped in surprise, as the all-too-familiar voice reached my ears.

Yanking the covers down from their place over my head, I sat up and turned in the direction of that voice and lost my breath as I locked eyes with the most gorgeous black brown ones in the world, which were sparkling mischievously in his smiling face.

_No flippin way!_

"Jake?" His name fell from my lips in a whisper as I stared. This couldn't be true. But, it was. He was really here, sitting in the chair across from my bed. I couldn't believe it.

Were you expecting someone else?" He asked, his eyes sparkling mischievously, "Because, you know, if you were, then… Well, this would be kind of awkward and I should probably go…" He rose to his feet, his head turning toward the door as if he was going to leave.

"Jake!" I cried, exuberantly, I could feel the smile spreading across my face.

"Yep, I think we've pretty much established that it's me," Jacob replied. As if mirroring me, his lips curved into an answering grin of his own.

"You…" I scrambled out of the bedcovers and up to rush to the other side of the room to stand next to him. I wanted to jump into his arms and hug him as if my life depended on it. But, was that okay, now? I remembered all too well what my assumptions had earned me the last time we met. But, he _was_ here, wasn't he?

Reigning in my excitement, I held back, deciding it would be safer to test the waters before diving in to land on the concrete below the mirage. After all, it wouldn't be the first time I had experienced hallucinatory visions of someone who held such a large piece of my heart.

Reaching out, tentatively, I stroked my fingertips lightly across his shoulder, exhaling in relief as the warmth of Jacob's skin, radiating through the thin fabric of his t-shirt, combined with his body's soft resistance to my touch stood as indisputable proof that this moment was not a figment of my overactive imagination. "You're really here," I stammered.

Jacob shook his head at me as he reached up and caught my hand in his. "Wow, Bells… you really were wasted, last night, weren't you?"

He was laughing, as he said this; the kind of laugh that I used to know so well. The kind of carefree, familiar laughter that was only shared between the best of friends and although his statement was less than flattering, when he wrapped his arms around me, literally lifting me off of my feet to engulf me in one of his famous hugs, for once, I found myself too happy to care.

Unfortunately I was quickly reminded that all good things, even things like basking in the joy of being enveloped within the warmest arms in the world, must come to an end when my poor lungs began to burn and scream for much needed oxygen.

"Jacob," I choked out, my voice barely more than a hoarse whisper, "Cant… Breathe!"

_Check that off as another note for the books_, I thought to myself. _Even supernaturally enhanced humans of the odd variety require air._

I silently cursed my remaining frailties as Jacob gently lowered me down with a grin that was, impossibly, both smug and sheepish at the same time, to stand on my own two feet. Even with only a couple of feet between us, my skin chilled, mourning the loss of that heat.

"God, Jacob, I missed you so much!" I breathed, looking up into the face of the guy who had once been my only lifeline in this world; my own person sun and wondered how I had ever thought that it would be so easy to just walk out of his life. At this moment, my previous assumptions on the matter seemed absolutely ridiculous to me.

"How did you… I mean, what are you doing here?"

_Sheesh, Nice one, Bella! _ I, inwardly, scolded myself. _That's what every guy wants to hear when they come knocking!_

"Well," he mused, "as much as I really, really wanted to stay mad at you, I realized that I couldn't because the whole mess wasn't your fault. I mean, other than marrying a walking corpse, of course, other than that, you didn't do anything wrong-"

Jacob rushed through the latter part of his statement at lightning speed and I opened my mouth in protest, but he held up his hand and continued.

"-and, well... I missed you too, Bells. You have no idea how much. And, uh... As far as the _how _I came to be here," he paused and glanced quickly toward the window, "Alice kind of let me in."

"Alice?" I murmured to myself, "Alice just let you in?"

I was pondering this oddity when Jacob added another perplexing piece to the puzzle my mind was currently trying to put together.

"Yup," he affirmed, popping the p and nodding for emphasis. "And, oh, uh… She left already. She said something about having some kind of meeting she had to attend, so it looks like it's just you and me, here, for now."

"What?" The look on my face must have been awful, as I could feel my eyes squinting into his as if to see if he was really serious.

"Alice let you in and actually left you here with me without throwing a fit?"

"Well, yeah," Jacob confirmed, but the way he averted his eyes and chewed his lip, like he was trying to think of what to say, told me that there might have been a little more to the story than that. When way he mumbled something under his breath that sounded a lot like "sort of," only further solidified my opinion.

"Okay," he amended, "Maybe not _just_ like that, but that's the short version." His easy smile slid smoothly back into place and he nodded, seemingly satisfied with his own answer and I could tell that he didn't plan on letting me get any more out of him, any time soon.

"No harm, no foul, Bells," he soothed, lightly, but something about his voice was off. "Relax, already."

_Relax? He wanted me to relax? He shows up out of nowhere, with the beautiful, sunny Jake smiles and the big bear hugs and the funny, funny ha-ha's but then gets all weird when I ask him about Alice he beats around the bush, shuts me down and just tells me to relax? _

Something was definitely fishy around here.

On one hand, I was thrilled beyond belief to have Jake here with me, after believing for so long that he would never want to see me again. But, on the other hand, I couldn't understand how he could be so cavalier about it. I, for one, was at a complete loss for words. I felt, suddenly, awkward; unsure of how to proceed with this surprise reunion. Especially when I tried to sort through the way he came to be here in the first place and came up with nothing outside of him catching me, in my dream and finding myself wrapped up in those big strong arms…

_But, what happened after that? I went to sleep, right? No…_

There was more to it than that. There was something I was forgetting and I had a strong suspicion that it had a lot to do with why Jake was behaving so strangely. We had barely even exchanged words and I already could tell that something was very wrong, here. I knew that until I remembered what happened, last night, it was going to drive me nuts.

"Um… Sure, sure, Jake." I shook my head and forced a light smile, hoping that I was doing a better job at playing this game of charades than he was. Looking around the room, my eyes landed on the clock which helped me formulate my next statement. "I mean, I'm not worried, or anything! I'm sure everything is fine. I don't know why I would have expected Alice to stay so late, anyway. She hates to sit still for too long. Hey, uh… Do you mind if I take a shower, real quick?"

I was improving here, trying to find an excuse to get out from underneath his all encompassing gaze when I had only just got him back, so I could get some time to sort out what was missing in my head.

"Oh, I mean," I continued, "unless of course, you aren't staying for long. Not that I want you to go…"

Boy, I really sucked at this.

"Because, I don't! I really, really don't. Want you to go, I mean. But, if you need to, I'll understand and I'll just wait. But-"

It was Jacob's turn to look perplexed. He stared at me, curiously as I fumbled and floundered through my words.

"I think I can stick around long enough for you to take a shower, Bells," he said; his interruption saving me from continuing to make an ass out of myself. "I'm really not in a rush."

"Oh! Okay, good. I mean… Great!" I corrected myself, quickly. "I'll be right back. Just make yourself at home. There's some sodas and a few things in the fridge or I could order room service, real quick first, if you are hungry-"

"I'll be fine, Bells, assured me, waving his hand as though shooing me. Although," he added, with a grin, "I might take you up on that room service when you get out!"

"Okay," I felt myself smile back in response, despite my concern. Even under such odd circumstances, Jake's smile was infectious. "I'm going!"

_Okay Bella, into the shower with you. You've only got a few minutes to clear that foggy brain of yours._

I made quick work of stripping out of my clothes and, after adjusting the temperature, stepping in to stand underneath the cascading water.

_What happened between the end of my dream, and waking up this morning? If this is what happens to someone's memory every time they drink, I'm never drinking again, no matter how much fun I had. This shit is for the birds! I vaguely remember talking with Jake, last night. I'm just not sure how much of that conversation was real and how much of it was something we talked about while I was still dreaming._

It's funny to think that the night I have such a vivid dream about Jacob would be the night that he decides to show up in an attempt to rekindle our relationship. I decided that my subconscious must have inserted him into my dream because he was already in the hotel room. I probably could hear him talking with Alice. That makes sense. In fact, looking at it from this angle, it would mean that the part of my dream where he caught me was actually something that happened. Knowing me, I probably thrashed around and rolled right out of bed and if I had been screaming out loud Jake might have come in with Alice to try and wake me up just about the time I did so.

As I worked on shaving my legs, much of the following conversation began coming back to me.

Jacob was holding me in his arms telling me that everything was going to be okay. "I've got you," he told me, over and over again. He was stroking my hair as I shook and held onto him for all I was worth. I remember trying to tell him that I was sorry for the way I had acted the last time we saw each other but he never let me finish. He said that he didn't want to talk about it. No… He didn't want to talk about anything. I'm pretty sure that's what he said.

And he held me, for the longest time, until the tears stopped and the shaking went away and the panic that I had awoken with subsided to be replaced with a feeling of calm and safety that I haven't felt, even in my waking hours, for such a long time. I can even recall thinking to myself that it was so much nicer to be held by him than dropped and being mildly shocked when he whispered, as if on cue, that he would always catch me.

_Hold on!_

Sensing that this was important, I backed up thought of those words again, "I'll always catch you, Bells," which may have been appropriate under the circumstances, but as I quickly replayed the conversation in my head, I found the missing piece.

"How? How did you…?" I had asked, hoping that, despite my inability to complete an entire sentence, he would understand what I was asking of him, which was 'how did he _know_?'

"I heard you." When Jacob answered, his voice had sounded far away and confused and even a little scared. "I heard you," he said. "I don't know how… But, I heard you…"

Gasping, I blinked with surprise and the loofah that I had been scrubbing with fell to land with a soapy splat upon the shower floor.

_He heard me? _

I decided that there had to be some reasonable explanation for this. Even Edward, who can read into everyone's thoughts couldn't read mine. And, last time I checked, Jake's only supernatural ability was one that allowed him to morph into a giant horse-sized canine. I laughed to myself as I picked the fallen sponge off of the floor, rung it out and hung it back on its hook.

It was probably just a coincidence. Or, even more likely, I really had been screaming and Jake was being sarcastic when he said that he didn't know how he had heard me.

I suddenly felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. All that worry about not being able to remember all of last night's details and I find that I had gotten myself all worked up over nothing. Jacob was probably just acting strangely because he was just as nervous as I was.

Stepping out of the shower, I dried myself off and reached toward the hook for my robe and realized it wasn't there.

_Shit!_

I had left it in the dryer. _Well… This is awkward._

As I stood there, wrapped in only a towel, I contemplated how I was going to get from the bathroom to my clothes without being caught in such a state of undress, only to giggle again to myself as a silly idea popped into my head and refused to go unheeded.

_Oh, that's right. Jake and I can hear each other's thoughts. I'll just kindly ask him to get my robe out of the dryer for me. I'm sure he won't mind. _

I concentrated on asking him to do this as if I were shouting through the door, telling him exactly where to find my robe and smiled to myself as a few moments went by with no response.

Confirmation of my mind's privacy was nice. But I was still, however, unclothed. So, as embarrassing as it might be, I decided that I was going to have to call for Jake to get my robe for me, after all.

"Jake?" I called out only to jump when he responded immediately from the other side of the door.

"You don't have to keep shouting, Bells," he said. "I've got it, already."

I felt myself freeze.

_No, he couldn't possibly have known._

Several seconds ticked by before I heard him ask, cautiously, "So… do you want me to hang it on the doorknob or something?"

My arm felt like lead as I slowly turned the knob on the door and reached out to grasp the soft terrycloth bathrobe within my fingers. Without even uttering a 'thank-you' I pulled it inside the bathroom and shrugged into it and then flung the door open to stare at Jacob in disbelief.

There he stood, only five feet away from me, his expression a mask of apparent confusion in response to my odd behavior. Running his fingers through his long hair, he cocked his head to the side and asked, "Are you alright, Bells?"

"You brought me my bathrobe," I answered, stoically.

"Well, yeah," he nodded with a worried frown. "You told me that you forgot it and asked me to get it out of the dryer for you."

"I didn't say anything." I corrected him and watched his expression falter for a moment before he smiled and shook his head.

"Sure you did," he countered. I heard you plain as day."

"You'll always catch me, huh?" I asked him, then, stepping through the door and walking slowly toward him.

"Are you planning on falling down?" he asked, he was nervous. I could see it and he actually took a couple of awkward steps back as I approached him.

"You heard me?"

"Yeah, I told you I did." His eyes seemed to have trouble holding my gaze as he glanced around the room. "Bells, you're weirding me out, right now," he said followed by a weak laugh.

"You don't know how. But, you heard me."

Jacob's eyes quickly snapped to mine and his face grew very serious. "Damn it, I was hoping you wouldn't remember that," he groaned, softly. He continued to look into my eyes with this pained expression and I stared back at him in wonder, noting how his lips never moved when I heard him ask in a voice filled with trepidation.

"Are you still happy to see me?"


	22. Chapter 21

**_Okay guys, this is a long one. I'm going to have to start getting back to tackling the *mysteries* in this fic, soon. But, I wanted to give you all a little more of an inside scoop with Jake and Bells, first. I hope you all don't mind. This is a long one. ;-)_**

_**I want to thank you guys, again, for your reviews and ratings. I really can't express how much the continued interest and support of this story means to me. I think one of the most awesome things about writing is getting to know the rest of the fan-fic community. **_

_**I also want to give a special shout-out and Thank you, to diamondheart for including this story in** **"The Bella & Jacob Chronicles." over at Twilighted and to**_ **_for adding it to her FF community, Jacob_Black_My_Jacob._**

_** If any of you guys haven't already checked these sites out, you really should. There's tons of awesome stories in them, written by some really incredible authors. Thanks, again, you guys!**_

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Jacob

_Oh man, I'm fucked._

That's the first thing that popped into my mind when Bella repeated, back to me, those eight words that I had spoken, last night. I knew, the second that they came out of my big fat mouth that they would come back to bite me in the ass.

How was I supposed to explain this to her, when I didn't even fully understand it, myself? The only explanation I could think of was one that I really didn't want to talk about.

The imprint.

How was I going to get out of this one? I was busted. I should have known better. There was no way that I should have been able to hear her, so clearly, over the music I had been listening to in the living room, had she just called out to me, verbally. I mean, I still would have heard her. My hearing is a hell of a lot clearer than the average Joe's, after all. But, the sound would have been much fainter.

Sometimes, I was a real bone head!

The whole time I am contemplating what I should say, should do next, the object of my terror, my adoration, my entire existence was standing there, tiny as can be, wrapped up in a fluffy bathrobe and trying to look as imposing as possible. Her arms were folded across her chest and her head was tilted upwards with a stubborn set to her jaw as she stared me down. If looks could kill, I would be dead on the spot.

This would probably not be the best time for me to tell her that she looked sexy as hell.

So I figured I'd just go for playful submission, instead.

Rather than responding to her, aloud, I opted to utilize our inexplicable, mental connection to ask,_ "So, are you still happy to see me?"_

I made sure that my eyes never left hers, as I did this. This type of communication, by itself, wasn't anything new to me. But, using it in my human form and by choice, rather than by invasion was still pretty weird. I mean, as a wolf, all conversations were like group meetings. You could hear everyone at once, whether you wanted to or not. This was different. It was a choice… It was sort of like making a phone call.

Her eyes grew large, in response. But, to her credit, she didn't miss a beat as she volleyed back, _"Yes. Of course I'm happy to see you, you big ass! But, this is freaking me out! How in the world is this even possible?! And… why were you trying to hide this from me, anyway?"_

I shrugged.

"_I'm not sure, really," _I told her. It wasn't a lie, even if I did have my suspicions. I didn't know anything for certain. _"And, Bells… Did you just call me an ass?"_

I watched as Bella's hand flew up to point one of her little fingers at me in accusation.

"_Nu-huh! Don't try and change the subject, Mister! I'm asking the questions, here! So, when you said you heard me… You really __**did **__hear me calling you, in my dream, then?"_

"_Yeah… Pretty weird, huh?"_

If someone were to have walked in on us, right then, they would have wondered what in the hell we were doing. Both of us standing there, staring into each other's faces and saying nothing at all. We had to have looked pretty stupid.

"_And, Alice?"_ she ventured. _"You said that you came by and that Alice 'sort of' just let you in?"_

Yeah, there was that other thing that I didn't really want to go into. But, it didn't look like I had much choice in that, now.

"_Well… I didn't really come knocking on the door, or anything. I kind of just climbed up and through your window."_

I experimented with this connection by focusing on the events that happened, during those moments. I recalled pulling myself up through the window to find Alice staring out, as if she had been waiting for me. I thought about the words she spoke, before she walked out of the room and I could tell that Bella was seeing this too by the way her eyes widened in wonder. It wasn't long, however, before she recomposed herself. She arched one eyebrow and shook her head before she closed her eyes, running her fingers through her damp hair. She then, abruptly broke our silent conversation, asking aloud, "What is it with you guys and windows? Doesn't anyone believe in using the door, anymore?"

I couldn't help the nervous laughter that escaped me, in response to her outburst. I, also, didn't miss the little glare she shot me as I did. But, even so, there was the faintest hint of a smile pulling on the corners of her lips that filled me with relief in hopes that I might be out of the woods.

"Well, I'm sorry, Bells," I told her, "under the circumstances, I thought it would be quicker than running up and down the stairs or jumping elevators to find your room. This was kind of freaky to me too, you know. I've never experienced someone else's nightmares first-hand, before."

Bella chewed on her lip and nodded her head in acknowledgment. She walked past me and sat on her bed, curling her legs up beneath her.

"They aren't pretty, are they?" She asked me, smiling weakly.

"No," I agreed. "Not really." I came over and stood by the bed, feeling more than just a little awkward now that some things were out in the open for discussion. I didn't know if I should sit down, or if she would prefer some distance between us. Fortunately, I didn't have to ponder this long, as she answered my unasked question by patting the space beside her.

As I settled down next to her I was surprised, when she scooted closer to rest her head on my shoulder. Her hand rested on my knee and for the first time, I noticed that she still wore the charm bracelet that I had given her. It felt really good to know that, even through all of this, she still wore it. But that wasn't the best part. The best part was when I realized that Edward's God-awful diamond was nowhere to be seen.

My hand seemed to move, of its own accord, over to hers so that my fingers could touch the wooden charm that I had carved for her. Even though we weren't talking, verbally or otherwise, I couldn't help but smile when she spoke, seemingly in response to my thoughts. In had always been this way, in the past. We'd always had an uncanny way of sensing what the other was thinking and feeling.

"I took it off," she said simply. "It didn't feel right, having it there."

I'd be lying if I were to say that hearing her say those words didn't make my heart skip a beat. The first time I saw that big, enormous, cock blocking eye-sore dangling from Bella's wrist it was all I could do to keep myself from ripping it off and throwing it right through the middle of that filthy, show-boating leech's face. If it hadn't happened to be attached to Bella's fragile arm, I know I would have done it, too.

But, realizing that Bella may not have viewed Edward's charm addition in the same light I did my best to choke down my joy, over her decision.

"Well," I chose my words carefully, "why not? I mean, it is a charm bracelet, after all. Isn't that what you girls do with those things? Collect different… well, charms on them?"

"No. I mean, yes. I mean…" she sighed heavily and took my hand in hers, lacing her fingers between mine and then started over.

"Yes, that's what charm bracelets are for. We collect charms on them that we like and, they are each supposed to symbolize something. But this," she brushed her finger against the wooden charm, causing it to sway, "This is so much more than that, to me. You didn't just go out and buy it. You _made_ this for me, with your own two hands. It's something that came from your heart and wearing it is like carrying a little piece of you with me, wherever I go."

She paused and I could feel her tense up against me as if whatever she was going to say was very uncomfortable for her, but before I could say anything at all, she pushed forward.

"Jake, I treated you so badly. I can't tell you enough how sorry I am for the way I took advantage of you. I used you in the worst way and took our friendship for granted so many times, all because I couldn't think of anyone but myself. And, I guess in a way, I still am pretty selfish. Because, if you want the honest truth about why I took that stupid diamond off, it was because I didn't know if you were ever going to speak to me again and this wolf is the only piece of you I had left. And, I didn't want to share you with… with him."

If I had words in mind, before she finished her explanation, I couldn't remember them. I was speechless. But, then, in common Bella fashion, she broke the tension with a teary eyed giggle.

"Besides," she said, squeezing my hand, "diamonds, like vampires, are shiny. But this here," she, gently, flicked the wolf again. "This is sort of beautiful, all by itself. Sparkles just don't do it justice."

Wow.

Just… wow.

What was I supposed to make of that? I really wasn't sure. I knew what I _wanted_ to make of it. But, I'd already jumped the gun in my head too many times to let myself hope. But, of course, I was hoping. I was always hoping. _Damnit!_

Bella's thumb was rubbing back and forth against the skin of my palm in a distracted kind of way. I wondered if she had any idea what she was capable of doing to me with such a simple touch. It isn't easy to hold up walls against someone who is pouring their heart out while leaning on you and holding your hand like it was the most natural thing on earth. Of course, that made me have to wonder why I was even trying to delude myself into thinking she couldn't break right through those walls like they were paper, anyway. I mean, really… Who was I trying to kid? Somewhere, throughout my ponderings, it occurred to me that this was most likely the point in conversation where I would be expected to say something in response, but I honestly didn't know what to say. What could I say?

'_Oh, that's okay, Bells. You only stomped on my heart before ripping it out by marrying a bloodsucking leech who then tried to destroy it by faking your death. No big deal, we're cool.' _Or, maybe, '_Well, you can't help who you love makes you do stupid things, sometimes. Hell, I should know that better than anyone, because if I could help it, I wouldn't be here, right now. I would have stayed far, far away from your crazy ass!' _No. That's no good, either. Oh wait! What about… _God, Bella would you just stop rubbing my hand?!_

"You know, he calls me, sometimes."

_Huh?_

Bella's sudden statement snapped me back out of my head and into the moment at hand. I supposed I should be glad that she can't hear my thoughts unless I want her to. I should probably also be happy that she started talking so that I didn't have to, since her distracting little thumb voodoo was screwing with my head. _Man, I'm pathetic!_

"Edward." she continued on as if I had asked her who she meant, which, of course, I didn't because my tongue was still glued to the roof of my mouth. "He calls me, sometimes."

Well, whoop-de-doo. I knew this song and dance. She might as well jump up and link arms with me right now so that we can do-si-do. I should have seen it coming. It's always been the same. She cries on my shoulder, beats herself up, tells me how wonderful I am and then kicks me in the balls by talking about how heartbroken she is about it all because she just loves her Eddikins SO much.

"Yeah?"

Strengthening myself against what was to come, I finally found my voice.

"Well, that's not so suprising, is it? He's your, oh, what is it you used to call him? Oh, wait, your forever, right? Yeah, that's it."

Bella made a snorting sound followed by a dry, humorless chuckle.

"Ahh, don't remind me," she groaned.

"Okay, that was shitty of me," I admitted. "But, you can't expect me to feel charitable where he is concerned, anymore, Bells. I mean, if you really look at the big picture, here, he screwed us both, this time."

_Here it comes_, I thought, as she pulled herself away from me, abruptly, and looked me in the eye.

"This time, Jake? Just this time? No. My blinders are off. He's been screwing me over since day one."

Okay, well I have to say that I wasn't expecting that reaction.

"I've had a lot of time to think things over, Jake. And, it's true. Oh, I love him. I love all these things about him that I have seen that are just wonderful. But, he never treated me with the kind of respect I deserved to be treated with."

"What kind of boyfriend takes pieces out of her truck to keep her home when he isn't there to babysit her? What kind of guy has his sister act as a bodyguard to keep her from hanging out with her best friend?"

"It has always been a test of wills with us. He never gave me what I wanted unless I threatened him with something else that he didn't want. But, I always tried to give _him_ what he wanted, always tried to be what he expected me to be. And, I never quite made the grade. And, do you want to know what's worse, yet? The one person I really have to point the finger at is me, because I allowed it. I spent so much energy wanting to be perfect that I never stopped to look in the mirror and see that I was losing everything about me that made me… Well… ME!"

Once again, I found myself struck silent. But, this time, it was because I was impressed. In my mind's eye, right now, she was that feisty little girl kicking sand castles. I honestly, never thought I would see her, again. It was cool!

"The girl I was; the woman I wanted to be wouldn't have settled for a life where she had to trade her friends for some guy. She wouldn't have just left her parents and the rest of her family behind like yesterday's news! And the last part was my fault! The only thing I can say Edward didn't try and screw up was my humanity! I did that all by myself. And now, look at me!"

Pushing up the sleeve of her robe, Bella held her arm, outstretched, and turned her face toward the sunbeams that were softly filtering through the window and across her bed, which made faint, unearthly shimmer upon her skin and the tiny gold flecks in her eyes more noticeable.

"I don't even know what I am, anymore."

I studied her face for a moment, waiting to see if she wanted to continue but it appeared that she was all out of gas. Cautiously, I decided to join in. This was certainly turning into a day of revelations for me.

"So, what does he say?"

"What?"

"When he calls you," I added, "what does he say?"

"Nothing," she replied, with a slight shake of her head. "He doesn't say anything at all. In fact, I'm not completely sure that it's him. I just have a feeling that it is."

"Why? Don't you recognize the number?"

Bella shook her head, again.

"No. It's a different number, every time. But, the call is always the same. I answer and there's nothing on the other end. I can't even hear the person breathe."

"So, let me get this straight. You haven't heard a single world from him since he left a couple of months ago?"

I watched as she shook her head again. Her frustration was clearly visible in her eyes.

"So, what are you going to do, Bells?"

"That's the problem," she sighed. "I really don't know. I don't think we can go back from this. I can't trust him, Jake. What he did was awful. And, then for him to just run away, afterward without so much as an attempt to rectify what he had done? It's unforgiveable."

"You're right," I agreed. "But, as much as it pains me to say this, that is between Edward and me. I have a personal score to settle with him, no matter what. But you, Bells, you've got to base your decision on everything as a whole."

"No, Jake, that's where you're wrong," she stated. "He didn't just do this to you. He did this to us."

I loved how Bella used the word _us_, even if it didn't mean the same thing to her as it did to me.

"And, I am looking at the whole picture. For the first time, I'm really seeing it, clearly. And, I think that this just might be the last straw."

I couldn't believe the way this conversation was headed. Bella was actually talking about leaving the thing.

Suddenly, the sound of a piano interrupted our conversation. The music was soft, melodic and almost haunting. Bella's eyes grew wide and then shot over to the nightstand, to stare at her cell phone.

"That's him," she whispered. "He's calling me from his phone."

"Speak of the devil, huh?" I joked. "Well… Are you going to pick it up?"

"No." Bella pulled her knees up to her chest and folder her arms around them.

"Are you scared?" I asked, incredulously. "C'mon Bells, you can't be scared! You just ranted and raved for a good five minutes straight about how mad you were! You should talk to him." _I never thought I would ever hear myself tell her that! _ "Clear the air. Tell him where you stand."

Together, we watched the phone as the vibrations caused it to dance around the hard surface of the table.

"Jake, I just… I just can't." she said, shaking her head and refusing to meet my eyes.

_Just great_, I thought. Of course, she couldn't talk to him. Not in front of me, anyway. She didn't want me to see her crumble like a cookie after talking about the leech the way that she had.

I hated the way that the creep could make her feel so small. What, did he have some kind of radar or something? In my mind's eye, I could see him as a comic book super-villain with word bubbles. _Uh-oh… Bella might be getting a little of her self confidence back. We can't have that! Quick, Eddie! To the phone-mobile! Awaaaaay! _

"You do it." The tortured voice that reached my ears was barely more than a whisper.

"Excuse me?" I looked back to her in confusion and noted that a strange light that had crept into her eyes.

"You do it," she repeated.

"Are you sure you really want me to do that?" I asked, putting great emphasis on the _really _as a warning that she might object to what might come out of my mouth if I took advantage of this golden opportunity. "You probably won't like anything that I have to say to him."

She shrugged and averted here eyes, once more, but didn't move to pick up the phone.

Eager to take advantage of this opportunity before she changed her mind, I, quickly, snatched the phone off of the table and flipped it open.

"Well, hello, Bloodsucker!" I greeted him.

Silence.

"What's the matter, Cullen?" I chided, "Didn't you miss me?"

More silence.

"Hello?"

"Okay, well… You know, Bella was just telling me how you call her all the time and do this, but usually it's from some unknown number or something. Maybe you forgot to grab a different phone, this time, huh?"

"What are you doing with my wife's phone?" Edward's voice was strained and raspy.

"Ah! There you are, Edward!" I exclaimed, as if I were overjoyed to hear from him.

"You know, I was beginning to wonder if we had a bad connection or something, because I know _you_ would _never_ be so rude as to just hang around, listening, like a creepy stalker, no matter what Bella says. Why do I have her phone? Well… She didn't act like she wanted to get out of bed, so I figured one of us needed to answer it."

I turned to observe Bella's reaction to my sarcastic implication and, although her eyes were downcast and she was still holding her knees, I was mildly surprised to see a hint of a smile pulling that the corners of her mouth.

I couldn't help but wonder how long that was going to last as I brought my attention back to the conversation, at hand.

There was a strange crunching sound coming through the other end of the phone and I could just picture him standing there, shaking with irritation and trying his damnedest not to crush the phone like a tin can.

"Hey, ah… Are you planning on coming back around, any time, soon? Because, when you do, I'd lovethe chance to get together with you and catch up. I feel like there's so much left unfinished between the two of us."

"I didn't call for you entertain yourself, at my expense, Jacob. I wish to speak with my wife."

I don't really know where this random silliness came from. Honestly, I don't. I mean, as much as I love to torment Edward when he's poking around in my head, I normally would never waste my time with this kind of banter. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Bella was sitting right here, safe and warm with me, while Shit for brains was off moping on the other side of the world. But, whatever the reason, instead of shaking with anger as I thought I would be, while speaking with Edward, I found that I really was enjoying myself, instead.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, gasping in a flamboyantly exaggerative manner. "Eddikins, I'm wounded! And, here I thought that you lied to me about Bella's death so that you could have me all to yourself.-"

"My wife. Dog. Put her on the phone.

"Well, leech. Since you put it that way, I'll just jump to it. In all seriousness, though, I feel the need to remind you that we _do _have unfinished business."

Turning back to Bella, I pulled the phone away from my ear and held it toward her.

"He doesn't want to play with me, anymore," I told her. "I think I made him mad."

Bella tucked her hair behind her ears and blinked a few times in rapid succession while chewing her bottom lip. I wasn't sure if she was going to cry or what. Seconds ticked by, before she finally reached out to take the phone from my hand. Slowly, she brought the phone to her ear and held it there, without saying a word. It wasn't long before I could hear Edward's voice coming through the receiver.

"Bella? Bella, love, are you alright? Bella, what's going on?"

For the first time, since I accepted the call, Bella's eyes met with mine, briefly, before she took the phone away from her ear and held it in front of her, staring at it, as though looking into the face of the leech, on the other end of the line. I could still hear him, as I'm sure she could as well, his voice had a panicked edge to it, as he pleaded with her.

"Bella… Bella, say something, please!"

Bella sighed, heavily and I watched, amazed as she granted his request with only two simple words, before she snapped the phone shut.

"Goodbye, Edward."

How many times was this girl going to shock me, in once evening? I was certain that my jaw had dropped halfway to the floor. This; _This _was the girl I had fallen, head-over-heels, in love with.

After setting the phone back down onto the bedside table, Bella squared her shoulders as she looked up at me.

"For the record, Jake, I'm not scared. I just don't want to talk to him." "I used to want to, but not anymore. There's nothing for me to say. He did this. Not me. I don't owe him any explanations. I don't owe him anything."

"Bella Swan," I said, purposefully using her maiden name, rather than her married one, "You may not know what you are, but I, sure as hell, do."

"Oh you do, huh?" She asked, rolling her eyes. I could tell that she was expecting me to say something silly, or snide.

"Yeah, I do," I answered. "I know exactly what you are."

I felt as though I were being pulled in two different directions. My heart hammered in my chest while my body fought against my sense of reasoning as I sank to my knees before her, to look her in the eyes. My hand lifted, as if it had a mind, all its own, to slide into her hair, my thumb softly caressing her cheek.

Bella's lashes fluttered, slightly, and I felt as well as saw her breathing pick up. Licking her lips, she replied, in a nervous whisper, "What's that?" Her face leaned, ever so subtly into my hand.

Slowly, I pulled her to me until, when our faces were barely inches apart, I answered her.

"You're beautiful."

And, my better senses lost the war as I closed the distance and pressed my lips to hers.


End file.
